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Zest said:

The scarily talented Southampton FC wonderkid who must have a first-team pathway: View​

15-year-old Alejandro Gomes Rodriguez has scored nearly 50 goals for the Saints across different age groups


HIGHLIGHTS​

  • Alejandro Gomes Rodriguez, a 15-year-old Southampton academy product, has already scored nearly 50 goals for the Saints across different age groups.
  • Rodriguez has played for England's Under-15 team and is eligible to play for England, Portugal, and Venezuela.
  • It is crucial for Southampton to keep hold of Rodriguez as he shows immense talent, and bigger clubs may start showing interest in him soon.
Alejandro Gomes Rodriguez may not be a household name yet in English football, but he could well be in years to come.

The 15-year-old Southampton academy product had scored nearly 50 goals for the Saints across different age groups by March 2023. He'd only joined the club in the summer of 2022, according to Junior Premier League.

The centre-forward is eligible to play for England, Portugal and Venuzuela, but has already played for England Under-15's, scoring four goals in two games in February this year.

These are remarkable statistics and the Saints will be thanking their lucky stars that a player this talented is on their books. Keeping hold of Rodriguez will be crucial for the club in the years to come.

Who is Alejandro Gomes Rodriguez?​

He was born on the 11th March 2008 and began playing in the Junior Premier League for Eastleigh Tornados in January 2020 after joining from a local third division side.

Rodriguez started Year 7 of school in September 2019, and after befriending several Eastleigh Tornardo players, he joined the club after Christmas. On his debut for the side, he scored a perfect hat-trick after just five minutes, displaying his obvious exceptional talent.

The Southampton academy man netted an incredible 334 goals in just 136 games for the Tornardos before signing for the Saints in the summer of 2022. During his first season with the club he featured for their U15's, U16's and U18's sides, showing how well thought of he is at the club.

Despite playing for England's U15 side in February, Rodriguez toured with Venuzuela's U17 side to Japan and Turkey in September. This doesn't mean Rodriguez will be ineligible for England in the future, he may just be keeping his options open like many footballers who are eligible for more than one country do as youngsters.

Rodriguez has featured for Southampton's U18's side this season, recording five assists in just four games in the U18 Premier League. Saints have had the likes of Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and Luke Shaw come through their academy, Rodriguez looks like he might be the next cab off the rank.


What does the future hold for Alejandro Gomes Rodriguez at Southampton?​

As Birmingham City showed with Jude Bellingham, age is no object if you're good enough to play first-team football. However, it's important to remember that Rodriguez is only 15, if he's rushed into first-team football too early, it may stunt his development and may even lead to injuries.

On the other hand, it's important that Southampton ensure there's a path to first-team football for Rodriguez, as he could be a future star at first-team level. If he continues to perform for the Saints academy, it won't be long until bigger clubs start circling. It's crucial that they find the balance between rushing Rodriguez's development and keeping the player happy.

If the forward was to break into the Saints' U21 set-up this season, then he could well see himself involved with the first-team in training and during pre-season next year. At 16, he'll be the same age Bellingham was when he made his debut for Birmingham for comparison.

Russell Martin will be aware of how talented the youngster is and will want to ensure he keeps his feet on the ground and performs for the Saints' academy sides. It's unlikely that he'll get a first-team look in until he's playing for the U21 side, that should be Rodriguez's aim for this season.
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Born 2008?! Fuck I’m old.
 
erlee said:
Get Ademola Lookman from Atalanta in 2025 - solves out left flank problem if Werner bombs out
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www.espn.com.au

Is Ademola Lookman on course to win AFCON player of the tournament? - ESPN Video

Colin Udoh reacts to Ademola Lookman's goal in Nigeria's 1-0 win over Angola in the AFCON quarterfinals.
www.espn.com.au www.espn.com.au

I think many would scoff at/be underwhelmed with his signing, but if he counts as a HG player, I don't hate the idea.

We certainly have worse players on our squad.
 
The Mercurial No.10 said:
Callum Marshall from West Ham has been given his first senior call up to the Northern Ireland squad, honestly think the lad is a goal machine with a massive future potentially.
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16 goals and 3 assists in 16 games last season in the u18 league.
16 goals and 3 assists in 10 games in the first half of the u21 league this season.

Gone out on loan to West Brom who are pushing for the playoffs in the Championship and sounds like he's struggling at the moment. Unused sub a couple of times and the general consensus from West Brom fans so far has been that, when he has come off the bench, he doesn't look ready for this level physically (which is sort of the point of a loan tbf). Probably a similar scenario to Dane where League 1 would have made a lot more sense than a top half Championship team.
 
Football Chap said:
www.goal.com

NXGN 2024: The 50 best wonderkids in football | Goal.com Kenya

The annual NXGN lists are back for 2024, ranking 50 of the most incredible footballing talents to have been born after January 1, 2005
www.goal.com

Bergvall @ #23

Lot of familiar names, quite a lot that have been mentioned here and quite a few players we've been linked with.
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Let's do a deal for Restes, that young French goalie. Sign him but keep him on loan at Toulouse for another year, then get him a loan to the PL.

I'd also like us to go after that Bynoe-Gittens from Dortmund before he costs Sancho money. He and/or that Illing Jr kid from Juve. Could do worse to back up Udogie/Sonny at LWB/LW.

Jude's brother is worth a pop too.

That Gray lad from Leeds is out of reach, unless there's a deal to be made round Rodon and someone like Skippy.
 
Jaynola said:
Let's do a deal for Restes, that young French goalie. Sign him but keep him on loan at Toulouse for another year, then get him a loan to the PL.

I'd also like us to go after that Bynoe-Gittens from Dortmund before he costs Sancho money. He and/or that Illing Jr kid from Juve. Could do worse to back up Udogie/Sonny at LWB/LW.

Jude's brother is worth a pop too.

That Gray lad from Leeds is out of reach, unless there's a deal to be made round Rodon and someone like Skippy.
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Yeah, Gray would be really tough to do. Would love to see us have a go for him though even if it meant loaning him back a year + big fee & Rodon. Think he would be a quality 6 in our current system. Hard-working, great tackling, good passing and can ball-carry too. Suitable in all 3 of the midfield roles so would be able to play in a more free-form interchanging 3 if we ever wanted to use that.

Don't know much about the keeper, don't really follow the French league but not sure if we would spend that much on another overseas keeper with Vic already
 
Was in Marseille tonight to watch France vs Chile. Les bleus won but were shite and mad lucky...Chile hit the post, had one cleared of the line, France's first goal took a deflection...

Anyway. Was very, very impressed with two of 🇨🇱 's younguns. First, Marcelino Nunez, a 24yo DM/CM who plays for Norwich. Crazy good on the ball, great range of passing, vision & turns a la Modric, never stopped running, not afraid of putting a challenge in...and scored the opener. Had Kolo Muani not scored one & assisted another, he clearly gets MOTM.


View: https://x.com/tekkersfoot/status/1772717355631554920?s=20

Second, Dario Osorio. 20yo CM/AM/FWD...he was everywhere. Peach of a left foot...scored the best goal of the game, gave Maignan who's no slouch zero chance. Played some great passes & crosses. Loves dribbling, going at defenders. Puts in the defensive work too. He's at that Danish team FC Midtjylland, where's he's got 5 in 14 games. Apparently he's the future of the Chilean NT and not hard to see why.


View: https://x.com/FootColic/status/1772741197389304194?s=20
 
Fairly interesting situation about a young player called Ilyes Bennane at Genk. Saw this a couple of months ago that Belgium had a player playing up 2 age groups at u15 level which is very rare at that level. Apparently an incredible dribbler and really highly rated.


View: https://twitter.com/ProspectBelgium/status/1754979300514607402

It's now come out that he'll be leaving Genk after a disagreement with the family who weren't happy with him playing up multiple age groups. Genk refused to move him down and he'll now be leaving and going elsewhere.


View: https://twitter.com/HanifBerkane/status/1773411711648661651

The player’s father opened up to the Belgian media to explain his son’s departure from Genk.

“Ilyes is very talented, but he has the physique of a child. When he arrived at Genk at the age of 9, his double over-classification wasn't a problem. But with the U15 team, he started playing against very strong players,” Bennane’s father explained.

The father further noted that he had requested that Genk reclassify Ilyes from the 2009 to the 2010 generation since his health was starting to risk.

However, the club declined to do so since Ilyes’ skill level is superior to that of its 2010 generation, the father explained, stressing: “We therefore started listening to other teams' projects,” the father concluded.
 
Football Chap said:
Fairly interesting situation about a young player called Ilyes Bennane at Genk. Saw this a couple of months ago that Belgium had a player playing up 2 age groups at u15 level which is very rare at that level. Apparently an incredible dribbler and really highly rated.


View: https://twitter.com/ProspectBelgium/status/1754979300514607402

It's now come out that he'll be leaving Genk after a disagreement with the family who weren't happy with him playing up multiple age groups. Genk refused to move him down and he'll now be leaving and going elsewhere.


View: https://twitter.com/HanifBerkane/status/1773411711648661651

The player’s father opened up to the Belgian media to explain his son’s departure from Genk.

“Ilyes is very talented, but he has the physique of a child. When he arrived at Genk at the age of 9, his double over-classification wasn't a problem. But with the U15 team, he started playing against very strong players,” Bennane’s father explained.

The father further noted that he had requested that Genk reclassify Ilyes from the 2009 to the 2010 generation since his health was starting to risk.

However, the club declined to do so since Ilyes’ skill level is superior to that of its 2010 generation, the father explained, stressing: “We therefore started listening to other teams' projects,” the father concluded.
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Playing players up age groups around the ages when puberty hits is always very difficult, I lost an absolute smasher at Under-14/15 who was around 2 years younger than the rest of the squad because I couldn't risk him getting absolutely emptied by early developers with raging hormones.

Although in saying that, I've always found that the very best players play up for as long as they can and it's usually far better for their development as players. It's quite a difficult position for all parties IMO.
 
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