Saints Marching
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Southampton: 3 academy graduates who must feature in 2018/19

By Edward Waugh

GRONINGEN, NETHERLANDS - JULY 30: (L-R) Yan Valery of Southampton and Danny Hoesen of Groningen go up for a header during the friendly match between FC Groningen an FC Southampton at Euroborg Stadium on July 30, 2016 in Groningen, Netherlands. (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images)
GRONINGEN, NETHERLANDS - JULY 30: (L-R) Yan Valery of Southampton and Danny Hoesen of Groningen go up for a header during the friendly match between FC Groningen an FC Southampton at Euroborg Stadium on July 30, 2016 in Groningen, Netherlands. (Photo by Christof Koepsel/Getty Images) /
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STEVENAGE, ENGLAND – JANUARY 30: Nathan Oduwa of Tottenham Hotspur is tackled by Yan Valery of Southampton during the Premier League Two match between Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton at The Lamex Stadium on January 30, 2017 in Stevenage, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
STEVENAGE, ENGLAND – JANUARY 30: Nathan Oduwa of Tottenham Hotspur is tackled by Yan Valery of Southampton during the Premier League Two match between Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton at The Lamex Stadium on January 30, 2017 in Stevenage, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) /

Yan Valery – Right-back

The 19-year-old French star signed his first professional contract for Southampton back in February 2016, but has only featured in youth team football since, though is considered highly as a potential Premier League defender for the future.

Saints backed up this claim by offering Valery another new contract back in February of this year, this was mainly due to his original contract running out in Summer 2018 but shows that the right-back is still highly thought of.

It is still not 100% clear as to whether Valery is in Southampton’s plans as a back-up for Cedric Soares for the upcoming campaign despite penning a his new deal recently, as Saints had been linked with Tobias Pachonik who would also be another right-back, however this rumour has somewhat been put on the back-burner since.

But with English football having a hectic schedule, Valery should and rightfully (no pun intended) get his shot at playing in the first team, not only to improve his game but to also to help rest the Portuguese-international Cedric for Premier League games, which should arguably be a priority.