Why Southampton have struck gold with a new deal for Dan N’Lundulu

As confirmed via Southampton’s official twitter account, Southampton have secured the future of young striker Dan N’Lundulu with a new deal until 2020, with the 20-year-old putting pen to paper on fresh terms at St. Mary’s. 

N’Lundulu was a part of the U-23 quartet also featuring the likes of Nathan Tella, Oludare Olufunwa and Kieran Freeman that signed an extension with the Saints until next summer. 

The 20-year-old is yet to make his senior professional bow for his boyhood club but the Saints decided to reward him with a new deal for his rapid progress through the youth ranks.

N’Lundulu is held in high regard by the coaching staff at Southampton and has been widely tipped to make a first-team breakthrough under Ralph Hasenhutt, who has shown a lot of trust in the club’s academy starlets. 

The centre-forward made his debut for the Saints’ U-18s back in the U-18 Premier League back in the 2016-17 season and he hasn’t looked back since then, earning rave reviews for his rapid development on the south coast of England. 

The 20-year-old progressed through to the U-23 level in the 2017-18 campaign and grabbed the headlines for his rich vein of form last season in the Premier League 2 Division 2, scoring the opener against Newcastle U-23s in the playoffs. 

N’Lundulu has made a seamless transition to the Premier League 2 Division 1 this term and currently boasts of a tally of 3 goals in 4 games for the reserves, with his obvious talent and vast potential putting him on the verge of a call-up to Hasenhuttl’s senior ranks.

The youngster was granted the privilege to train with the first-team prior to the start of the ongoing Premier League campaign and was a part of the squad that made the pre-season trip to Austria. However, with competition for places currently high at St. Mary’s, a senior debut has evaded the talented young striker. 

To put things into perspective, it is only a matter of time before the 20-year-old eventually makes his mark in the first-team at Southampton and it doesn’t require a rocket scientist to figure out that the Saints have struck gold with a new deal for Dan N’Lundulu. 

The academy prospect has already carved out a reputation for his goalscoring prowess at the youth level and early signs suggest that he might have what it takes to eventually cut the mustard at the highest level, albeit with a little bit more polishing. 

Hasenhuttl’s arrival has witnessed a dramatic change in fortune for some of the club’s talented academy prospects, with the likes of Yan Valery and Michael Obafemi very much a part of the senior set up nowadays. 

The Austrian has made a strong statement of intent by bringing in talented youngsters like Moussa Djenepo, Kevin Danso and Che Adams, while also promoting several starlets from the youth ranks, and N’Lundulu looks like the next in the queue who could get a chance to impress very soon.

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All in all, Dan N’Lundulu’s new deal is yet another instance of the club’s renewed faith in their academy talents and a definitely a move which could pay rich dividends in the years to come.