Ryan Sessegnon has admitted that Cristian Romero trains the way he plays when he is on the training pitch at Hotspur Way. The Argentina international has made such an impact in N17 since his summer move from Atalanta and has produced a number of big tackles on his opponents in his quest to come out with the ball.
His latest came in Sunday's 3-1 win over Leicester City, winning one tackle before a crunching challenge on Caglar Soyuncu that paved the way for Dejan Kulusevski to tee up Son Heung-min. It's not just his opponents he will go in hard on, however, with Sessegnon revealing that it's not ideal playing against him in training on occasions.
"Yeah, every time," admitted the left wing-back when asked if Romero trains the way he plays. "No it's not worrying, he times it so well. Playing against him in training is not ideal, but for us in our team is good."
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On what it's like to play with Romero, he added: "It's fantastic. You see every game he puts in important challenges for us and sometimes get us out of a little bit of trouble as well. He's so strong, so fast and he's a great player to have in the team.
"I think he understands more (English) than what he can actually speak. He's got players around him that can speak Spanish as well, so that helps him."
Antonio Conte's future at Tottenham has dominated the headlines recently following reports in France that the head coach has offered himself to Paris Saint-Germain for next season. Given the uncertainty over whether he will still be in north London ahead of next term, Sessegnon is hoping the Italian remains with Spurs.
"Of course, he's a top manager and he's shown that with us this season," he said. "We hope he's here next season and for us the main objective is to get in that top four and then prepare for next season."
It has been pretty hard to escape talk regarding Conte's future as it has been headline news over the past week. It hasn't managed to unsettle Sessegnon and his Spurs teammates, however.
"Not really, not at all. We're professionals and we focus on our game and step by step. You heard him yourself it's obviously false news, he's focusing on here at the club," said the ex-Fulham man. "As players we're just focusing on our job going forward and that's all we can do."
Struggling at times for a consistent run in the team, the youngster has featured regularly for Tottenham in 2022. A player Conte clearly believes can represent the England team in the future, Sessegnon has outlined the importance of self-belief.
"I think there's a lot of things that come into it. It has not been easy since I've been at the club, but step by step he gives me confidence in every game to go and do what I can do," he explained. "For me it's about believing in myself and getting in that positive run, feeling good and keep pushing."
Hit by a number of injuries since his switch from Fulham in 2019, Sessegnon picked up another hamstring issue at the start of March in the 5-0 win over Everton. Despite suffering setbacks in his attempt to nail down a regular place at Tottenham he still has confidence in his body.
"Definitely. At times it is quite hard, it's a mental battle with the physical side as well," he added. "Right now I feel good and I'm giving 100 per cent every time I'm out there."
