The Athletic’s Dan Sheldon has suggested that new defender Tino Livramento could end up playing as a number 10 for Southampton at some point in the near future.
Earlier this summer, the talented youngster arrived at St. Mary’s on a five-year contract having been poached from Chelsea despite being named their academy Player of the Year.
Livramento has made an instant impact for the Saints, playing in all three of the club’s opening Premier League fixtures of the 2021/22 campaign.
His involvement forced fellow right-back Kyle Walker-Peters onto the opposite flank against Newcastle, but Sheldon has claimed that the 18-year-old could be shifted into a different role himself in the near future.
While talking on the Total Saints podcast, he said: “Ralph’s job is to get his best players in the team and work out how to do it.
“And yeah, I can’t say I was too surprised to see him [Walker-Peters] playing, and at the same time, you’re not going to drop Tino.
“And if he’s not going to play Tino as a 10, Kyle’s good enough and versatile enough to be able to go on the left. And if that’s how Ralph is going to make it fit, then that’s how he’s going to have to do it.
“Although I’d still quite like to see Tino as a 10, Kyle on the right, and [Romain] Perraud in the team.”
TIF thoughts on Tino Livramento and Southampton…
So far in his short career with the Saints, the 18-year-old has started exclusively at right-back in each of the three games he has played in.
In his time at Chelsea last season, however, he did feature as a right-sided midfielder in the Premier League 2 and the EFL Trophy.
Perhaps this time spent slightly further up the field is why Sheldon has suggested such a seemingly dramatic positional change for the talented teenager.
With Walker-Peters now back in the frame – having been the club’s first-choice right-back last season – Sheldon’s suggestion for Livramento could become a reality at some point in the future.