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REACTION: Southampton’s extension of young players’ contracts is a good thing

By Chris Hughes

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - APRIL 20: Ryan Seager of Southampton is congratulated by his team-mates after scoring to make it 1-0 during the Under 21 Premier League Cup Final Second Leg match between Southampton and Blackburn Rovers at St Mary's Stadium on April 20, 2015 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - APRIL 20: Ryan Seager of Southampton is congratulated by his team-mates after scoring to make it 1-0 during the Under 21 Premier League Cup Final Second Leg match between Southampton and Blackburn Rovers at St Mary's Stadium on April 20, 2015 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images) /
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On Friday Southampton extended Ryan Seager’s contract with the club, keeping up a theme of handing young players new deals.

Having already given new contracts to Sam Gallagher, Jake Flannigan and Harry Lewis among others, the Saints have shown loyalty to their up-and-coming talents despite a summer of insane transfer fees.

Just the other week Leicester reportedly bid as high as £40 million for Swansea Gylfi Sigurdsson – an astronomical fee for both the former to be able to bid and for the latter to not only receive, but reject.

Meanwhile Southampton’s only investment this summer has been the £6.5 million arrival of Jan Bednarek, and while the club could still make big-money moves, they haven’t forgotten their routes.

Southampton made their name developing young talent through their famous academy but haven’t forgotten the next generation of Saints players, something which is impressive in 2017.

Next: Five takeaways from Brentford versus Southampton

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – APRIL 20: Ryan Seager of Southampton celebrates after scoring to make it 1-0 during the Under 21 Premier League Cup Final Second Leg match between Southampton and Blackburn Rovers at St Mary’s Stadium on April 20, 2015 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – APRIL 20: Ryan Seager of Southampton celebrates after scoring to make it 1-0 during the Under 21 Premier League Cup Final Second Leg match between Southampton and Blackburn Rovers at St Mary’s Stadium on April 20, 2015 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images) /

Seager has enjoyed a miserable time with injury as of late, suffering a ligament injury which has halted his progress over the past couple of years.

A natural poacher with a keen eye for goal, the 21-year-old will spend the next 12 months on loan with MK Dons has he hopes to rejuvenate his career in a similar way to how Sam Gallagher did with Blackburn last time around.

Showing faith in Seager despite his injury troubles shows the Saints still have their feet firmly on the ground despite this crazy era of English football, especially after showing similar loyalty to Jake Flannigan.

Both Seager and the aforementioned Lewis will spend their next season’s away from St. Mary’s but offering them both new contracts shows that their respective loans are not the end of their Southampton careers. The Saints need to continue their streak of offering new deals to their up-and-coming talents.