Alan Shearer called him ‘brilliant’ while Newcastle United supporter David Meakpeace even wondered if he ‘fancied signing for the Toon’. That’s how much of an impression Ryan Sessegnon made on his first outing at St James’ Park in 2017. To think the Fulham star was just 16 at the time.
Not only did Sessegnon score two goals in the visitors’ 3-1 win – boldly putting his finger to his lips after his second – the youngster also won his side a penalty at the death in the Championship clash. However, Sessegnon was ultimately left fuming after boss Slavisa Jokanovic intervened and took the spot-kick off him.
“I’m 16 and I’ve scored two goals in the Champ against the team that’s running away with the league,” he told Rising Ballers. “I want to take the penalty. I want to score a hat-trick.
“I didn’t know this at the time, but the gaffer told me afterwards that I wasn’t ready for all that light, all that talk, all that media. He gave the ball to Tim Ream. Shout out to Tim Ream, but he’s a centre-back who wanted to take the penalty. Considering it’s the last kick of the game, I wanted to take it, but he took the penalty and he missed.
“At the time, it didn’t mean anything in terms of the result but I was angry because I could have made crazy history. It was one of those things where the gaffer wanted to protect me a little bit. Looking back, it was probably the right decision.”
Sessegnon was later linked with a loan move to Newcastle, following a spell at Spurs, but the switch never materialised. The winger hailed St James’ as a ‘massive stadium’ with ‘passionate fans’.
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