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Southampton 2018/19 Season Player Review: Yan Valery

By Ryan Borowski

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MARCH 02: Yan Valery of Southampton scores his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Southampton FC at Old Trafford on March 02, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MARCH 02: Yan Valery of Southampton scores his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Southampton FC at Old Trafford on March 02, 2019 in Manchester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
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The youngster burst onto the scene for Southampton and from the start showed he’s got potential to be a mainstay in the team for a long while.

Cedric was struggling and many fans were calling for the youngster to get a chance to start and prove himself. That chance came against Manchester United in a 2-2 draw where he played all 90 minutes. From there he did not look back and grew as a player week in and week out.

Defensively he was solid and showed confidence beyond his years. Going forward he was shaky to start but with each passing match he got better and better and would start beating fellow Premier League defenders on the dribble.

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – MARCH 09: Yan Valery of Southampton celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Tottenham Hotspur at St Mary’s Stadium on March 09, 2019 in Southampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – MARCH 09: Yan Valery of Southampton celebrates after scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Tottenham Hotspur at St Mary’s Stadium on March 09, 2019 in Southampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /

The Frenchman also scored in back-to-back matches against Tottenham and Manchester United (We all remember this one) and it was truly a pleasure to watch an academy player flourish in front of our eyes. With a full offseason to train with Ralph Hasenhuttl, Valery is only going to improve on his performance over last season.

He seems eager to learn and wants to be the best player he can be and I suspect he will be something special in a few season. Still only 20 years old, Valery could be a household name for a long time.

This season he averaged 1.8 tackles per match, 2.5 clearances, and 1 interception. One of his most notable defensive performances came against Chelsea in January where he drew the task of marking the ever dangerous Eden Hazard. Valery did as well as any defender could have hoped for and kept the Belgian off the score sheet and that was really his coming out party.

Southampton 2018/19 Season Player Review: Ryan Bertrand. dark. Next

Also, let us not forget that screamer of a goal he had against United that came from absolutely nowhere. If this season was a glimpse into what the future holds for this footballer, Saint fans are in for a treat for the years to come.