‘Phenomenal’ - BBC pundit makes claim on ‘real gamechanger’ at Tottenham

Speaking to Football Insider, former Scotland coach and BBC pundit Alex McLeish has made a claim involving Tottenham defender Ryan Sessegnon and his manager Antonio Conte.

In 2019, Spurs fan favourite and former manager Mauricio Pochettino signed a highly promising English talent in Sessegnon to the tune of £25m.

Having impressed at Fulham, with ex-Cottagers boss Slavisa Jokanovic calling him ‘special’ and ‘fantastic’ back in 2018, Sessegnon has endured a mixed time at Spurs over-all.

Missing 20 games in total for Tottenham through injury this season, Sessegnon has nonetheless been tipped to become an important player under Conte due to his potential to thrive in a back-three system.

Speaking to Football Insider, the former Scotland boss said that Conte’s ‘stroke of genius’ tactics could be a ‘gamechanger’ for the 21-year-old ace.

McLeish stated: “Conte’s had great success with the three-at-the-back system. You go back to days at Chelsea, he started off with a doing against Arsenal, their big rivals. Then he completely changed it and they went on to win the league.

“It was a phenomenal achievement and certainly to change it in those early days was a stroke of genius. He knows how to play that system inside out.

“Sessegnon coming in there, he’s almost a converted winger. We’ve seen a lot of this over the years, I think France started to do it before anyone else.

“They started converting wingers into attacking full-backs or attacking wing-backs. Conte does that absolutely brilliantly.

“This could be a real gamechanger for this young man.”

Sessegnon has already proven at times this season that he has the potential to thrive under the Italian, even despite Conte controversially substituting him after just 28 minutes against