Saints legend admires £10 million Ex-Southampton academy graduate

The international break is about to be over, and several Southampton stars will soon join the team training to face Leicester City in the upcoming Premier League match. Meanwhile, a lot of Southampton's all-time legends recently took part in a charity match and played out a thrilling 4-4 draw. Manager Russell Martin also featured in this match as his side emerged 4-2 winners on penalties in this memorable and entertaining match at the St. Mary's Stadium.

Although the Southampton legends were defeated by Russell Martin's XI, the Saints fans witnessed a number of the club's greatest players such as Matt Le Tissier, Francis Benali and Morgan Schneiderlin sharing the pitch again. While it was a re-union for some of the former players who were teammates at Southampton, it was also incredible to watch a lot of the legends playing alongside each other for the first time. One of these duo were iconic left-back Francis Benali and Ex-Southampton academy graduate Theo Walcott, who joined Arsenal in a £10 million move in 2006 and returned to the St. Mary's Stadium four years ago as well.

Saints legend admires £10 million Ex-Southampton academy graduate

Walcott announced his retirement last year following Southampton's relegation at the end of the 2022/23 season, and joined a lot of the recently retired former stars such as Jose Fonte, Shane Long and Morgan Schneiderlin. Although Walcott missed his attempt in penalties, the former England international scored an impressive long-range goal from outside the edge of the box. Walcott showed his brilliant class once again, and Benali also admired the 35-year-old after the match, saying,

"Theo still looks like he’s 16 or 17. He’s doing very well, there’s a big difference between us."

- Francis Benali

Similar to Walcott, Southampton have developed a number of young talents such as Alan Shearer, Gareth Bale and Luke Shaw over the years, who have enjoyed a lot of success at other clubs as well. Moreover, this highlights that the Saints world-class youth academy is among the best in the Premier League with rising stars such as Tyler Dibling and Sam Amo-Ameyaw tipped to become one of the best forwards in the upcoming seasons.

Hence, Southampton fans are excited about what the future holds for their young talents who continue their brilliant upward trajectory in the youth academy.