Former Southampton midfielder Carlton Palmer has hailed Tino Livramento’s decision to leave Chelsea for the Saints.
Southampton signed Livramento last month on a five-year deal to bolster Ralph Hasenhuttl’s full-back options.
The 18-year-old right-back came through the ranks at Chelsea but failed to make a single senior appearance for the Blues.
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Given that lack of game time at Stamford Bridge, Palmer believes Livramento needed to leave and has praised him for making that decision and opting not to settle for the European champions’ bench.
“Southampton have a great history of bringing young players through from the academy, from their youth set-up, playing young players,” the ex-England international said to TIF.
“You’ve just got to play, you know, like De Bruyne. He went from Chelsea to Germany, learned his trade, came back to the UK a much better player through playing games. So I applaud him [Livramento], get out and play.”
Indeed, like Kevin De Bruyne during his days in west London, Livramento did not get a look in at Stamford Bridge.
Reece James, Cesar Azpilicueta and Callum Hudson-Odoi were all above him in the pecking order for that right wing-back position. And with James only a few years older than Livramento, it was hard to see a pathway into the team for the English youngster.