Tottenham wing-back Ryan Sessegnon has bulked up ahead of the new season as he looks to make a breakthrough with Antonio Conte’s side.
Throughout much of the 22-year-old’s three years with Spurs after leaving Fulham, he has struggled with a series of hamstring injuries. In response, the former England youth international has piled on the muscle as he looks to make this season the one where he finally becomes a mainstay in the Spurs side.
In a series of Instagram posts, Sessegnon has been showing off his body transformation ahead of a campaign that will see Spurs return to the Champions League for the first time in three years. The wide-man memorably scored on his full debut in the competition in December 2020 away at Bayern Munich.
Sessegnon is hoping to start the new season in the same fashion he finished the last campaign, being handed starts by Conte in the Premier League in each of Spurs’ last six matches of last season.
However, the former Cottagers ace has plenty of competition standing in his way. At wing-back, Spurs have summer arrival Ivan Perisic and Sergio Reguillon rivalling Sessegnon, while in attack, Son Heung-min continues to deny him minutes in a more advanced position.
Speaking about the changes to his physique, Sessegnon said he hopes that his hard work in pre-season will help his fitness and his availability for matches throughout the upcoming campaign.
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“I used the off-season as an opportunity to get muscle into my legs – and my top as well. If you can see the difference then obviously it’s worked!” Sessegnon told The Sun. “I did it to make myself stronger and play more games, to have the capability to go up and down for the full 90 minutes.
“That’s one of my aims, to play most games available this season. “It will help for sure, 100 per cent, because last season I was getting these injuries because places around my hamstring wasn’t very strong.
“I’ve managed to work in the off-season doing all this stuff on my hips and my glutes to make it stronger in every area.”
Spurs have played two friendlies in pre-season so far, beating Team K League 6-3 and drawing 1-1 with Sevilla in South Korea, with Conte’s side now back from their training camp in Asia.
Sessegnon started both friendlies at left wing-back, with summer arrival and 2018 World Cup finalist Perisic yet to make his debut for the North London club as he continues to work on his fitness.
Tottenham are next in pre-season action on Saturday afternoon, taking on Rangers at Ibrox before concluding their summer with a friendly against Jose Mourinho’s Roma a week later.
