The 20-year-old was earmarked by his fellow Saint as proof that the Premier League club’s academy is top quality.
Southampton defensive midfielder Oriol Romeu has hailed the Premier League club’s academy, singling out Callum Slattery as testament to the Saints setup’s quality and high calibre.
The 20-year-old has been at Southampton since the age of eight and made his first team start in the FA Cup match with Derby County, before making his Premier League debut in the 1-1 draw with Burnley earlier this month (Daily Echo).
Romeu hails from one of the most highly rated academies in the world, Barcelona’s La Masia, coming through its ranks before eventually coming to England, first with Chelsea and then Southampton (Transfermarkt), so he is very much the right kind of person to know about what makes a good youth setup.
“[Slattery] played against Burnley, which is one of the toughest teams, and you couldn’t tell it was his first Premier League match,” Romeu told the Daily Echo. “He is a strong lad, he has good endurance, he fights for the team and he is going to learn a lot of things, but he is on the right path.
“It’s good to see how the young players are doing a good job and you need to give the academy some credit. If you are the U14 manager, and players you’ve coached are now in the first team, it shows they are doing the right things. It sends the right message to the lads throughout the club, that if they do well and work hard, they are going to get a chance and they are showing they are ready for it which is the main thing.”
As well as Slattery, Marcus Barnes, Kayne Ramsay and Tyreke Johnson have made the step into the first team under Hasenhuttl, while illustrious academy alumni include Gareth Bale, Adam Lallana and Theo Walcott amongst others.
Yan Valery, meanwhile, was given his debut by ex-boss Mark Hughes, but Hasenhuttl has continued to show faith in the Frenchman, the 19-year-old so impressive that the manager felt he could let Cedric Soares leave the club, which the Portuguese did by joining Inter Milan on loan.
