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This article is part of Football FanCast’s In The Pipeline series, which takes a look at some of the most promising young talent either linked with clubs or emerging from their academies…
Southampton have an excellent history of developing young players into superstars, from Luke Shaw to Sadio Mane.
But there is another young prospect on the horizon who, as impressive as he has been, appears to be facing a significant battle to get into the first-team despite favourable circumstances.
Mario Lemina, a player who made 21 Premier League appearances for the Saints last term, fell well out of favour under Hasenhuttl, was frozen out completely by the Austrian and has now been loaned to Galatasaray as the club seemingly try to wash their hands of him.
Seeing as one midfielder is firmly in Hasenhuttl’s bad books and presumably has no future at St Mary’s, another should be the beneficiary of this difficult situation in young academy star Callum Slattery – however, that doesn’t seem to be the case right now.
The 20-year-old currently captains the Under-23 side and has already made first-team appearances for the Saints.
Slattery started last season’s 2-2 draw against Derby in the FA Cup and also played the full 90 minutes in the 1-1 draw against Burnley – Hasenhuttl said that the youngster was like a new signing after that game against the Clarets.
He is clearly well-liked by the Austrian boss and impressed enough to make more than just a single appearance.
However, despite Lemina being evidently unwanted at St Mary’s, Slattery still hasn’t been included in any of Hasenhuttl’s matchday squads so far this season, which suggests that he is still a fair way out of the boss’ thinking right now.
After all, Southampton’s central midfield ranks aren’t exactly bursting at the seams – with Stuart Armstrong being a more forward-thinking player, just one of Hasenhuttl’s benches in the Premier League this season has featured an out-and-out middle man in Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who has since cemented his place in the starting lineup. Backup in that department would clearly be beneficial.
Yet Slattery is still to be called upon – instead making four appearances in Premier League 2 this term – and wasn’t even included in the side that beat Fulham in the Carabao Cup, the kind of fixture that often obliges the use of youthful rotation options.
He clearly has a lot of promise and Hasenhuttl knows what he’s capable of, but his absence at this stage is starting to speak volumes, when Southampton are so glaringly crying out for more bodies in midfield.
Maybe Slattery needs to move into another gear to force the former RB Leipzig boss’ hand and reserve him a slot in a matchday squad.
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