Ryan Sessegnon is touch and go to be fit for Tottenham's opening match of the Premier League after a minor hamstring injury but his future under Nuno Espirito Santo looks to be bright, football.london understands.
The 21-year-old is looking to make his mark at Spurs following a successful loan season in the Bundesliga at Hoffenheim.
Sessegnon adapted quickly to the German league and culture and soon became a fans' favourite at his loan club, playing 29 times at left-back or left wing-back while chipping in with two goals and three assists in the Bundesliga.
The England U21 international has been unfortunate since arriving at Tottenham from Fulham in the summer of 2019, arriving with a serious hamstring picked up at the European U21 Championships.
By the time he recovered from that, he only got to briefly play for Mauricio Pochettino before the Argentine was relieved of his duties by Spurs and replaced by Jose Mourinho.
The former Real Madrid and Chelsea boss had high praise for Sessegnon, telling football.london that he saw traits in him that were similar to Ashley Cole and that he could become a top left-back.
However, Mourinho barely played the young wide man and last summer it was decided that a move to Hoffenheim, over other interested clubs, would be the perfect destination.
The German club offered the guarantee of regular football and in the left-sided defensive roles that he could develop in, and it proved to be a fine fit.
Now Sessegnon has returned to Tottenham to find another new head coach to work with in the shape of Espirito Santo.
He has a fan though in the former Wolves boss who had tried to sign him during his time in the Midlands on a couple of occasions.
It is understood that discussions between the new Spurs head coach and Sessegnon have been very positive, but an injury early in pre-season has prevented him from showing the Portuguese what he can do yet.
Sessegnon suffered a minor hamstring injury three weeks ago, which has seen him miss out on game time in the pre-season friendlies played so far, but he is now believed to be back out on the training pitches, working with the club's medical staff and building up the intensity of his work.
The young wide man is not currently expected to return to full training for between seven to 10 days and his potential involvement in Spurs' August 15 Premier League opener against Manchester City will be touch and go.
Despite this minor setback, the club have high hopes for Sessegnon and fellow returning loan player Oliver Skipp, with both players showing considerable development last season, both physically and mentally.
Both players bulked up considerably during their time away as well as becoming tougher mentally due to the process of living away from home.
They will prove crucial as homegrown players as Espirito Santo looks to juggle his squad numbers.
There has been plenty of interest from clubs looking to take Sessegnon on loan again. However, that has not been encouraged and the plan is for him to battle it out with Sergio Reguilon and Ben Davies for the left-back or left wing-back spot.
Tottenham's involvement in the inaugural Europa Conference League, as well as the domestic cup competitions, is set to provide Sessegnon with plenty of chances to stake his claim for Premier League minutes in the months ahead and he will be hoping to show the Spurs fans exactly why he was considered one of Europe's brightest young talents.
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