The recent transfer window which started from May
2014 and just ended on 1 September 2014 saw Southampton had sort of a clear-out
where they sold half and more of their first eleven who finished 8th
in the English Premier League last season. Some of them were the products of
Southampton’s renowned youth academy. Over the years, they keep producing the
best talents but the bigger clubs also keep pouncing in buying their talents.
The reason is simple. Southampton’s talents are one of the best in the football
world. They are very close to West Ham in producing wonderful home-grown
talents in England. Outside England there are Ajax Amsterdam, Sporting Lisbon,
Barcelona, Bayern Munich and others. If let say Southampton manage to keep
their talents together and prevent them from leaving, it will be never a
surprise if they can compete with the likes of those European giants, let alone
in England. But that only the top level management of Southampton can answer. Here
The Writer offers his knowledge on the past, current, and future products of
this Southampton’s youth academy which can provide enough basis on why they are
regarded as one of the best producer of home-grown talents in football.
Past:
Alan
Shearer (Position: Striker | Sold to: Blackburn Rovers | Transfer Fee: £ 3.6
Million)
Descriptions:
Alan Shearer made his senior debut with Southampton after being promoted
from the youth squad. His first senior game was against Chelsea in March 1988.
Two weeks later, he scored a hat-trick against Arsenal, thus making him the
youngest player to complete that milestone. A handful appearances and goals
scored later, Shearer was bought by Blackburn despite a strong interest from
Manchester United. He won the English Premier League title with Blackburn and
later moved to the club that made him a legend in England, Newcastle United.
Throughout his career, Shearer has scored so many goals and is currently the
EPL’s highest goal scorer of all-time. He is retired and now worked as a TV
pundit with BBC.
Matthew
Le Tissier (Position:
Attacking Midfielder | Sold to: N/A | Transfer Fee: N/A)
Descriptions:
Matthew Le Tissier is an ultimate legend for Southampton. He played his
entire senior professional career with Southampton. He was the first midfielder
in EPL to score 100 goals and was very prolific from the penalty spot. His
record stood at 47 goals from 48 penalty taken. Southampton fans called him ‘Le
God’ as he often dismissed any interests from bigger clubs to stay at
Southampton and perform admirably for them during his entire career. He also
did the club proud by representing England national squad with 8 caps to his
name. A rare achievement for a player from a lesser club in England.
Theo
Walcott
(Position: Winger | Sold to: Arsenal | Transfer Fee: £ 12
Million)
Descriptions:
A player who has speed as his biggest attribute. He
was said to have clock an impressive less than 10 seconds timing in a 100m
sprinting. Not bad for a non-professional runner. He is a regular starter for
Arsenal and England when he is not injured. He often play as a right winger or
a right forward of a front three. His preferred position however is a striker.
Prior to that, Walcott started his career at Southampton and making his first
team debut in the 2005/2006 season against Wolverhampton Wanderers. His rapid
rise in that season prompted him to be named as the top 3 finalists in the BBC
Sport Personality of The Year. Soon after that, Arsenal bought him for £ 5 Million and increasing to £ 12 Million after a number of targeted first team
appearances. He is a proud alumni of Southampton youth academy.
Gareth
Bale
(Position: Winger | Sold to: Tottenham Hotspur | Transfer Fee: £ 7 Million)
Descriptions:
Arguably the biggest name in this list. Gareth Bale
started his career also at Southampton. He made his professional debut against
Millwall in April 2006. During his career at Southampton, Bale played as a left
back and was known to be a free-kick specialist. He scored a number of goals
from free-kick even though often played as a defender and being a very young
first teamer. In 2007, Tottenham Hotspur bought Bale for £ 7 Million. At Spurs, Bale was transformed to be a
more offensive player. He grew into a left winger and later as a forward who
scores goals and a lot of them. Spurs changed his jersey number from a
traditional number 3 to 11 which showed his growing stature as a forward. His
performance in the 2010 UEFA Champions League opened the eyes of the football
world where he scored a hat-trick against Inter Milan. He never looked back
after that and performed better and better at Spurs. The prove to that was the
2011 PFA Player of The Year award won by him after a tremendous performance
throughout the season. Then in 2013, Real Madrid splashed the cash by paying £ 85.3 Million to acquire Bale from Spurs and thus
eclipsing the world transfer fee of Cristiano Ronaldo. He however proved to be
a bargain for Real Madrid where he helped them win the Spanish cup and the most
sought after title for several years, the club’s 10th UEFA Champions
League title in 2014. He is now one of the biggest superstars of the world
football and a lot to that surely came from the youth program at
Southampton.
Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain
(Position: Winger | Sold to: Arsenal | Transfer Fee: £ 15
Million)
Descriptions:
The ‘Ox’ is his nickname. Chamberlain’s career path
is almost similar to his teammate, Theo Walcott. The Ox started his career at
Southampton since the age of 7 and made his professional debut in 2010 against
Huddersfield Town. Although was nearly released by the club at the age of 15,
the Ox played his part and resurrecting his career and earned a new contract
prior to his senior debut. He is known to have a strong physical attribute and
a fast pace which is why people called him ‘The Ox’. In 2011, Arsenal bought
him for £ 12 Million and increasing to £ 15 Million after a number of targeted first team
appearances. This move was almost similar with the one Theo Walcott made in his
career. At Arsenal, Chamberlain was often deployed as a central midfielder, a
traditional Arsene Wenger’s habit in converting his players into a better
position suited to their attributes. Until now, Chamberlain is progressing to
be a regular starter for Arsenal and England. However, his injury often prevents
him from progressing faster.
Wayne
Bridge
(Position: Left Back | Sold to: Chelsea | Transfer Fee: £ 7 Million)
Descriptions:
The other left back product of Southampton youth
academy. Actually Bridge started his career as a centre forward for
Southampton, but with limited chance he was converted to be a left back where
he became a regular fixture in the starting line-up. Bridge made his debut in
1998 against Charlton Athletic. He was known to have a high fitness level, high
consistency in performance and passionate in his play. This prompted Chelsea to
sign him for £ 7 Million in 2003 with Graeme Le Saux being the
exchange player. Bridge was among the
first players to arrive at Chelsea in the Roman Abramovich era. He played an
instrumental part under Claudio Ranieiri and later under Jose Mourinho which
enable him to be selected into the England national squad for a number of
occasions. However, the arrival of Asier Del Horno from Valencia limited his
chance as the first choice left back at Chelsea. The worst part was the arrival
of Ashley Cole from Arsenal a year later which kicked Bridge all together out
from Chelsea. Since then, Bridge played for Manchester City, Fulham, and many
other clubs.
Adam
Lallana
(Position: Attacking Midfielder | Sold to: Liverpool | Transfer Fee: £ 25
Million)
Descriptions:
Adam Lallana was the captain of Southampton prior to
his move to Liverpool. He is known to be a very skillful player and is very
good with both feet. His performance under Mauricio Pochettino was so good that
he was selected to be part of England squad for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Lallana joined Southampton’s academy in year 2000 and made his senior debut in
2006 against Yeovil Town. He then grew his performances and managed to help
Southampton went up to the EPL from the Division 1 (Npower Championship). EPL
was the stage where most of big clubs were very interested in his overall
performances. In the end, he chose Liverpool and a £ 25
Million transfer fee was agreed between the clubs.
Luke
Shaw
(Position: Left Back | Sold to: Manchester United | Transfer Fee: £ 30
Million)
Descriptions:
How time flies. Just two years ago, Luke Shaw made
his senior debut with Southampton in 2012 against Millwall. Then a handful of
appearances later, he was transferred to Manchester United in a world record
fee for a teenager. There were rumors saying that Shaw was set to join Chelsea,
the club he supported as a boy. But Jose Mourinho thought that a £ 30 Million transfer fee was too high for his team
to afford for a teenager and the members of Chelsea team will feel annoyed if a
teenager got higher pay than most of them. Apart from that story, Shaw is for
sure one of the best English talents in the market. His surging run from left
back is excellent and his cross from the left was one of the reasons why Southampton
got many chances to score for the last two years in EPL.
Calum
Chambers
(Position: Right Back | Sold to: Arsenal | Transfer Fee: £ 16
Million)
Descriptions:
Calum Chambers went through the Southampton ranks at the start of 2012/2013
season. His first full debut was against Stevenage in August 2012. Then in
2013/2014 season, he started to be part of Southampton’s first eleven. He made
22 appearances in that season. Luckily for him, Arsenal and another dozen of
clubs were very impressed with his breakthrough and were vying to sign him.
Arsenal won the race for his signature (Arsenal has a history in signing
products of Southampton academy; e.g: Walcott and Chamberlain) and during the
off season of 2014/2015, they paid £ 16
Million to Southampton. Chambers can play at right back and also at centre
back. His maturity is widely acclaimed by football pundits. However, one of his
weaknesses is in yellow cards collected. He needs to make better decision at
times and this surely will be taught by Professor Wenger himself at Arsenal.
Other
alumni of Southampton Academy:
Andrew
Surman (currently at Bournemouth)
Chris
Baird (currently at West Bromwich Albion)
Leon Best
(currently at Derby County)
Tim Sparv
(currently at FC
Midtjylland)
Current
& Future:
James
Ward-Prowse (Position: Midfielder | Sold to: N/A | Transfer Fee: £ N/A)
Descriptions:
This lad is the brightest product of Southampton which is still at the
club. James made his first team debut for Southampton in October 2011. In 2012,
he signed his first professional contract and he became one of the regular
fixtures in Southampton first team. He can play in central midfield and right
sided midfield. One of his stand-out ability is delivering free-kick and corner-kick.
His name has already been mentioned in football transfer gossip and it won’t be
too long before he too makes a move.
Harrison
Reed (Position: Midfielder | Sold to: N/A | Transfer Fee: £ N/A)
Descriptions:
Viewers of Southampton matches will surely recognize this player. His
ginger hair is a stand-out material, apart from his blossoming football
ability. Harrison made his debut on 27 August 2013 and has already clocked a
number of first team appearances. He can play in right midfield and also can slot
in as a right wing back when there is shortage of right sided defender. His
name is yet to be out as a transfer target of other clubs but he has the
potential, absolutely.
Sam
McQueen (Position: Left Winger | Sold to: N/A | Transfer Fee: £ N/A)
Descriptions:
Sam is a Southampton born lad. People love local lads and he will be
adored once fully integrated into the Southampton first team. He made his
senior debut on 15 February 2014 in a FA Cup match. Sam is left sided winger
and it will be interesting to follow his development at the club. At this point
of time, he only shines at youth level and yet to mark his presence in the
senior side.
Lloyd
Isgrove (Position: Forward | Sold to: N/A | Transfer Fee: £ N/A)
Descriptions:
Lloyd is a Welsh midfielder but was groomed by Southampton since his
childhood. He is primarily a winger but can also play in midfield and as a
forward. He was promoted to the first team in 2012/2013 season. He made his
debut on 30 October 2012 against Leeds United.
Matt
Targett (Position: Left Back | Sold to: N/A | Transfer Fee: £ N/A)
Descriptions:
Matt is another left back of Southampton academy. If looked into the
success story of Bridge, Bale, and Shaw, Matt will be motivated to prove that
he too is a diamond. He made his senior debut on 26 August 2014 against
Millwall. Matt was tipped to replace the departed Luke Shaw but the loan
signing of Ryan Bertrand from Chelsea hampered his progress so far. However he
is still the diamond to be polished by the Southampton coaches.
Jake
Sinclair (Position: Forward | Sold to: N/A | Transfer Fee: £ N/A)
Descriptions:
Jake is the younger brother of Scott Sinclair (Manchester City player).
Jake can play as a forward and made his senior debut on 27 August 2013. But he
is currently on loan at Hibernian in the Scottish league. His experience there
will be vital to make a breakthrough at Southampton next season.
In all, Southampton can be proud of having a well run football factory.
Not only that, their products are among the best performers on the field. Going
back to the summer clear-out at Southampton as mentioned in the first paragraph,
many expected the cub to struggle in EPL this current campaign. But Southampton
is never one that succumbs to difficulties. They are currently among the top 5
in EPL (17October 2014) and in the month of September 2014, their manager,
Ronald Koeman won the Manager of the Month award and their new striker,
Graziano Pelle won the Player of the Month award. There will be more exciting times
at Southampton this coming season as they manage to regroup after a difficult
summer and their new coaching team looks perfect to the club’s traditional
style of play. Whoever they will sell and how many they will sell after this
will not affect the club status badly as their production lines are always
ready to take-over the responsibility. If readers have children who want to be
a footballer, please send them to this Southampton academy if really possible.
They will surely be someone in the football world. Because they will be another
products ‘MADE IN SOUTHAMPTON’…
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