Matt Le Tissier has been discussing how Southampton and Manchester City differ in their approaches to the development of young talent.

Saints travel to the Etihad Stadium twice in the space of a week soon, as they gear up for fixtures against the reigning Premier League champions in both the Carabao Cup and the top flight.

City have been struggling recently, and find themselves eight points behind Liverpool at this early stage of the season at the top of the table. 

Southampton, meanwhile, are languishing towards the bottom, and find themselves above Everton in the relegation zone only because they have scored twice more in their opening eight outings.

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Le Tissier, as quoted by The Daily Echo, spoke about how the two clubs compare when it comes to the integration of youth, and said:

Obviously there’s lots of good coaches down there, but I think the biggest thing is that the players get given the chance to play in the first-team at Southampton.

These boys could be at much bigger football clubs where perhaps they weren’t getting the chance – you look at Phil Foden at Manchester City who’s not really getting much of a look in.

I think if he was at Southampton, he’d have been playing the in first-team for two or three seasons, so that’s the difference.

Read Southampton’s verdict

City probably have the most exciting young prospect in England at the moment, and they’re struggling to give him regular chances to acclimatise to Premier League football. 

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Foden, as Le Tissier has rightly singled out, possesses an incredible amount of talent, and he’d walk into Southampton’s starting line-up despite only being 19-years-old. 

It’s becoming increasingly difficult for clubs in the upper echelons of English football to hand homegrown talent chances on the senior stage, with the likes of City and Liverpool under immense pressure week-in, week-out to simply win at all costs.

Southampton, despite their recent struggles, have shown no hesitation in drafting in some of their younger options of late, but they’ll be hoping to see some marked improvements on the pitch before too long…

Will Saints get a result in either of their trips to the Etihad?

Yes

No