Southampton’s youth system is not to be sniffed at, and over the years a multitude of top-class talents have been churned through Staplewood and unleashed onto the major stage, and once again, the south coast club might just have a new prodigy.
Indeed, there has been an abundance of talent dripping through the youth ranks over modern times, with the likes of Gareth Bale, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ben White all earning their stripes with Saints before going on to forge successful careers – and, of course, James Ward-Prowse serves as Southampton’s main man to this day.
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One other star that burst onto the scene at full throttle was prodigious defender Luke Shaw, who impressed during the maiden stage of his career and chalked up 67 appearances with his boyhood club, before signing for Manchester United at just 18-years-old in a deal worth in excess of £30m in 2014.
While Southampton never got to fully utilise his talents, the left-back became the world’s most expensive teenager following his transfer and given his former outfit’s adroit nature when it comes to their expansive pool of talent, nurturing starlets for their own set-up or benefitting from lucrative fees, the powers that be at the outfit must be watching the development of the prodigious Jayden Meghoma like a hawk.
Last summer, the 16-year-old full-back was signed from Tottenham Hotspur’s development squad on an initial scholarship deal, with Saints’ head of youth development, Dan Rice, saying:
“Jayden is a modern-day left-back, who possesses a confident ball-playing manner combined with an energetic capacity to his game.”
Could Jayden Meghoma really be the next Luke Shaw?
According to The Athletic’s Jacob Tanswell, Meghoma is one “of the best talents” in the country for his age group, and given the platform that Southampton offer youth players to grow into their skin, there is no reason why this progress cannot continue to make increments over the coming seasons.
The teenager has forged ten outings for Saints’ youth team, having also made two appearances for Spurs’ U18 group, and with the likes of the Daily Echo’s Alfie House waxing lyrical and proclaiming him to be a “highly regarded” ace, he might only be inches away from earning a shot at Ruben Selles’ senior system over the forthcoming years.
Should he continue to dazzle and impress with his mentality, indeed naming the likes of former Saints stars Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk as inspirations, his chances of emulating the world-class phenom could increase by the month.
Given the aforementioned Rice’s comments about his ‘modern-day’ abilities and ball-playing aptitude, there is certainly no reason why he cannot adopt Shaw’s mantle, with the 27-year-old now capped 243 times by the Red Devils and on 28 occasions by England, ranking among the top 7% of full-backs for attempted passes and the top 18% for progressive passes per 90, also maintaining a career pass success rate of 83.2%.
Given the high fee garnered for the established pro, the Southampton hierarchy need only remember just how beneficial investing into a precocious talent can be, and even if Meghoma does not forge a lengthy career on the south coast, he can be sold for, perhaps, an exorbitant sum.
Despite still perching safely within the formative stage of his footballing development, Meghoma is offering every bit the promise that he will blossom into a formidable force over the coming years, and when this happens, Saints might just have the next Shaw within their clutches.