Southampton have earned a reputation for being able to produce an almost-constant stream of excellent young talent through their academy system over the years.
Who are Southampton’s most valuable academy graduates?
Whether they made the breakthrough at first-team level for the Saints or not, a number of top players in Europe started their careers within the youth set-up on the south coast.
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Jamal Musiala |
£94m |
|
Ben White |
£47m |
|
Luke Shaw |
£36m |
|
James Ward-Prowse |
£32.5m |
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Tyrone Mings |
£18.8m |
The likes of White, Musiala, and Mings eventually made their names elsewhere, but Ward-Prowse and Shaw both excelled at St. Mary’s before moving on.
There are a number of talented young prospects currently on the books at Southampton and they will now be hoping to follow in the footsteps of those mentioned above, as well as the likes of Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale, who have since retired after impressive careers.
One academy player who could be a future first-team star for the Saints is U21 midfielder Kamari Doyle, who could be the next Will Smallbone to establish himself as a regular within the senior squad.
How old is Kamari Doyle?
The talented youngster only turned 18 last month and has plenty of time left on his hands to develop and grow into being a viable option for Russell Martin on a regular basis.
Southampton’s head coach has already shown that he has been impressed by the brilliant teenager as he offered him a first-team appearance in the League Cup against Gillingham in August.
Unfortunately, the Saints lost 3-1 but Doyle’s promising cameo off the bench in the second-half was enough to suggest that there is the potential there for him to make an impact at senior level in the future.
The 18-year-old ace created two chances, provided one assist, and completed 88% of his attempted passes, which included two of his three long passes, in just 45 minutes of action, as per Sofascore.
This was his second first-team appearance for the club after Ruben Selles handed him 14 minutes off the bench in a 3-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League at the end of last season, in which time the then-17-year-old completed 100% of his five attempted passes.
How has Doyle performed at youth level?
The versatile dynamo has emerged as a possible future star for the Saints due to his phenomenal form for the club’s U18 and U21 sides in recent seasons.
Doyle eased through matches at U18 level as he racked up an outstanding 19 goals and nine assists in 32 matches at that age bracket, which includes 15 goals in 24 U18 Premier League clashes.
This led to the attacking midfielder, who can also play in central midfield or on either flank, being promoted to the U21 squad, where he has been able to thrive ever since.
To date, Doyle has scored seven goals and provided 13 assists in 35 U21 games for Southampton’s academy. The England U19 international has registered two assists in two Premier League 2 outings so far this season, to go along with his one assist in one League Cup clash.
These statistics suggest that the English magician, who has produced ten assists in ten career games as a right winger, is capable of contributing with goals and assists on a regular basis from a midfield or wide position.
He has also showcased his ability to be a threat from set-pieces with a stunning free-kick against Preston North End in the FA Youth Cup, as shown in the clip above.
The left-footed whiz put pen to paper on a professional contract in 2022 and academy director Matt Hale described him as an “excellent” talent who the club believe has a “bright” future ahead of him.
It is now up to him to prove to Martin that he has what it takes to deliver for the first-team week-in-week-out, in the same way that Smallbone did during pre-season.
How did Will Smallbone perform last season?
The Southampton academy graduate moved away from St. Mary’s to gain valuable experience on loan with Stoke City in the Championship last term.
Smallbone averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.00 across 43 league matches for the Potters as the central midfielder displayed his ability to make an impact on and off the ball from the middle of the park.
In possession, the Ireland international showed off his creative quality with 1.6 key passes per game and seven ‘big chances’ created in total for his teammates, which led to five assists to go along with his three goals, as per Sofascore.
He then used his spell with Stoke to improve and hone his skills, which allowed him to catch Martin’s eye in pre-season and the talented ace has been an impressive performer so far this season.
Smallbone has averaged a fantastic Sofascore rating of 7.47 across three Championship outings for the Saints, which is the highest rating of any current player at the club and shows that he has been one of the team’s outstanding performers.
The 23-year-old maestro has created a phenomenal 3.7 chances per game for Martin’s side so far, which is 0.9 more per game than any of his teammates.
What’s next for Doyle?
Doyle must now use Smallbone as a prime example of the benefits of a loan spell away from the club and how it can set you up for future success at St. Mary’s.
Another four months or so of development football and, potentially, the odd first-team appearance could prepare the 18-year-old ace for a loan move during the January transfer window to give him regular minutes in the second-half of the campaign.
This could then provide him with an opportunity to showcase his attacking quality in a senior environment, whether that is with another Championship team or further down the Football League, and Martin can then reassess where he is next summer.
Doyle could go out on loan to, for example, a League One team and replicate his academy form, which could then open the door for him to be given a chance to fight for a place in the Scottish head coach’s first-team group for the 2024/25 campaign.