Theo Walcott has told the Daily Echo that Southampton have signed a rising star in Tino Livramento after the teenager completed a permanent move from Chelsea.
Ralph Hasenhuttl raided the academy ranks in West London to sign Livramento for £5m. The full-back was highly-rated at Stamford Bridge, but had entered the final year of his contract.
Brighton expected to sign the 18-year-old, who can operate on either side of the defence, per The Guardian. Instead, he joined Southampton, who agreed to give Chelsea a £25m buyback in Livramento’s five-year contract.
Livramento wasted no time getting acquainted with his Southampton teammates after assisting Walcott against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday. The pair connected within 90-seconds of coming off the bench, and Walcott believes it was only the start.
“I feel like he’s got a really good career ahead of himself. We need to make sure we just let him do it in the background, I suppose,” Walcott said. “He physically looks like an athlete, which you would hope anyway. But he is a very grounded young man I feel and is very well spoken, as well.
“He keeps his head down. He works hard and it’s only been a few days, but you can tell already he’s definitely a very good young character. The club need to look after him. But the players, as well, we are around him and always there for him.
“I just said to him: ‘Go out there and enjoy it, because that’s when you play your best football. Enjoy yourself, relax and express yourself’. I felt he was very comfortable, but it was just a shame we couldn’t make that first goal into two because we really did start the second half really well.”
Southampton a big test for Livramento, despite Walcott backing
Southampton will be a big test for Livramento, despite receiving Walcott’s backing, having failed to breakthrough at Chelsea. The teenager left Stamford Bridge without making his senior debut, and only featured on the bench twice – both this May.
Livramento was a fixture of the Blues’ U23s and showed plenty of promise in junior levels to catch Hasenhuttl’s eye. The full-back offered three goals and eight assists in his U23s career, including two-goals, six-assists in the PL2 last term.
Walcott’s backing shows how high Livramento’s potential is at Southampton, having played with one of the best. During his England career, Walcott played 25 times with Arsenal and Chelsea icon Ashley Cole between 2006 and 2013.
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