Wonderkid Factories: Southampton FC
This is the first time we’ve featured an English team on our wonderkid factories series and its for good reason. The vast majority of the best young players in England are usually found at the academies of the top clubs who either recruit them when they’re young or nab them from smaller clubs for nominal fees.
For this reason, Southampton are particularly special because they have consistently produced top level talent despite the allure of other clubs. The Saints don’t have the financial muscle of some of the other English teams so they have relied on the steady stream of talented youngsters that their academy has provided.
This was particularly evident during Southampton’s resurgence and promotion to the Premier League in the early 2010’s. After the club was relegated from the Premier League in 2004, there were a few near misses at getting re-promoted but ultimately by 2009 the club had overstretched itself financially and was placed into administration getting relegated from the Championship.
The club would start the 2009-10 campaign in the third tier of English football for the first time in 50 years and would begin with -10 points due to their administration. The Hampshire based club would have a remarkable season though, overcoming their 10 point deficit to finish 7th (just outside the playoffs) and picked up their first silverware since 1976, winning the EFL trophy at Wembley.
The following season, the Saints would go one better and secure promotion back to the Championship with Adam Lallana and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain both making the step from the academy into the first team. However, nobody expected Southampton to pull of the back-to-back promotion that they achieved the next season. They finished runners up to Reading and Rickie Lambert fired in 27 goals and added 13 assists.
Since returning to the Premier League, the Saints have continued to push players into their first team from the academy, with the club themselves stating that their aim is to “produce a first team year-on-year made up of 50% Academy graduates who are world-class in their technical ability on the field and behaviours off the field competing on the European stage.”
So who is on this illustrious list of players you ask? Well here are some of the high profile names to have donned the red and white stripes: Alan Shearer, Theo Walcott, Wayne Bridge, Dennis Wise, James Ward-Prowse, Matt Le Tissier, Kevin Phillips, Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Luke Shaw, Nathan Dyer, Gareth Bale, Calum Chambers, Matt Targett, Tyrone Mings, Harrison Reed, Ben White, Yan Valery, Michael Obafemi and Will Smallbone.
You can see why for most of their history, Southampton have maintained their status as a top flight club in England. However, they have been unable to shake their status as a selling club and for that reason they don’t retain most of their talent.
Despite that, we will once again look at some of the players still with the Saints who could rise to the top of European football.
Thierry Small (Left Back)
Small has only recently joined Southampton after leaving Everton in the summer but has been highly rated for some time now. Ironically, the Toffees could do with another left back at the minute with Luca Digne being their only senior one, but at just 17, Small has made a number of appearances in Premier League 2 already and is looking to force his way into England’s youth setup.
Dynel Simeu (Centre Back)
Another summer addition, this time from Chelsea, Simeu has already featured for Southampton’s U23’s in PL2 and the EFL trophy. He’s also featured for England at U17 and U18 level and for just 19 is well experienced.
Caleb Watts (Centre Midfield)
Watts is the only player on this list not from England but that has been to his benefit, after he was picked for Australia’s Olympic team in the summer. He also made three appearances for the Saints last season from the bench and has plenty of reason to force his way into Ralph Hasenhuttl’s plans again.