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Despite being only 22 years-old, Nathan Redmond has amassed 215 games through planning his career intelligently and putting his own development before the lure of high wages.
The England Under 21 forward, who has earned 70 youth caps and appears destined for the senior team, has played for Birmingham City, Norwich and now Southampton - although there was interest from some more high profile clubs.
‘Arsenal and Man City were interested in me when I was 16, 17, and I was thinking ‘‘Wow!’’. But Si (Bayliff, his advisor) was saying, ‘‘It’s not right, you need to play.’’ My mum said, ‘‘You’re not going anywhere.’’ She knows me better than anyone. If I’m not playing, I’m not happy,’ he told the Times.
'It’s not about the money, I’m kicking a ball for fun, doing it in front of 30,000 every week and most people would kill for that. It’s something that I wanted since I was a kid watching Ian Wright and Thierry Henry running past people.
‘Birmingham were my team but I loved watching Arsenal. They were strikers who’ve mastered movement and were calm in front of goal. I loved watching Cristiano Ronaldo. Players who were tricky, and entertained the fans. I have respect the trade and work at it.’
Redmond has continued his development at St Mary’s, where new manager Claude Puel has even likened him to his childhood hero Henry, and continues to move up through the England age-group ladder where he has played with the likes of Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson, John Stones and Jesse Lingard before they moved on to the senior team.
He continued: 'There’s a pathway to the senior team. It was always going to take one and then a domino effect, all just start flooding through. It’s happening again. It gives us all faith opportunities will come.
Now that former Under 21s boss Gareth Southgate is favourite to take over as England manager after his interim period in the wake of Sam Allardyce’s sacking that chance could come sooner or later for Redmond.
Of Southgate, Redmond says: 'There’s a lot of focus on what England players can’t do. Gareth said he wants to focus on what they can do. Gareth’s really, really good. Him and Steve Holland have a good balance. Steve gives the hard talk, not afraid to say how it is, whereas gareth would put his arm around you.
‘His man management is really good. Because he’s retired not long ago (2206), he understands the players in the modern game.’
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