James Ward-Prowse's return to Southampton is sticking out as an inspired transfer decision already.
For only £800k, the Saints have won themselves a classy and accomplished midfield performer, and despite such a lack of gametime coming his way at West Ham United and Burnley over the past couple of seasons, he has been everpresent under Tonda Eckert during a relentless patch of September fixtures in the Championship.
He even managed to bow out from this patch of games with a goal against Wrexham, which raised a rare smile in the away end, as the Saints lost 2-1 to the Welsh hosts.
Ward-Prowse will be glad a three-week break has come into effect so he can rest up somewhat, with the beloved number 30 noted as saying in a recent interview that he will be using the gap in fixtures to "refresh and recharge" but will also be hitting the training ground to "fine-tune" a few things.
He continues to stick out as a model professional in the Saints ranks, with this up-and-coming youngster wanting to follow in his footsteps, as the starlet in question is already catching the eye as a promising midfield talent.
The next Ward-Prowse
Adam Lallana is doing a fine job leading the U21s at the moment, with three wins and one draw collected from their opening four Premier League 2 matches.
Last time out, during their convincing 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, Korban McMullan would stand out, as he grabbed an assist for one of Princewill Ehibhatiomhan's two strikes.
The 19-year-old has impressed as an assist machine away from just this one-off victory, as well, with ten goals and 13 assists previously collected when lining up 56 times for the U18s.
Clearly capable of finding a teammate in space, with a further assist coming his way in the National League Cup against Woking this season, alongside scoring a strike or two, he could be a Ward-Prowse style ace in the making, if he can be this productive in the first-team fold for his boyhood side.
Noting as being a "key player" for the U18s when penning his first professional contract late last year by Director of Group Talent Strategy Andy Goldie, it will be some time before he's in the first team picture and making strides similar to the number 30.
He will likely need a loan away from St. Mary's to build up his first team experience, but the future looks very bright on the South Coast overall, away from just McMullan potentially behind the next Ward-Prowse in the making, when the iconic playmaker retires.
The future is bright at St Mary's
There is so much young talent in the ranks at the moment that should stand the Saints in good stead for the future.
Indeed, the aforementioned Ehibhatiomhan is a lethal finisher for the U21s, and has already made Eckert's bench on one occasion so far this season.
Moreover, the hope will be that when Jay Robinson returns off his loan at AC Monza, he can be a blistering winger option the German can throw into games on the regular, as he has lit up Serie A so far for the Italian minnows.
With Yunus Linton just signing, as well, for the U18s, who was being looked at by suitors from France, there appears to be promising future on the horizon ahead, even with Eckert in hot water over Spygate.
Right now, Ward-Prowse will be chosen as one of the main midfielders, though, with the number 30 very much a performer you want when challenging for promotion, for his calmness under pressure.
In time, McMullan will hope he can come into the main team and dazzle like the legendary midfielder, with more assists coming his way in the U21 picture this campaign making him an even harder starlet to ignore.
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