17-year-old midfielder Romeo Akachukwu has agreed to sign for Southampton on a permanent deal from Waterford FC. It is understood that the Irish youngster will sign officially in March and join later on in July.
It was reported in November that Saints had made an offer in excess of €500k (around £425k, which would be a new record for a player from a League of Ireland club) for the young talent, with top Premier League clubs, including Manchester City and Arsenal, also wanting to sign him. According to the Irish Independent, Southampton have promised Akachukwu a 'quick-route' to first team football, which other interested teams could not offer.
The 2006-born midfielder is considered one of the best talents in Ireland in the number 8/10 position, with three goals in 14 international caps to his name at U17 level. Last season he made the full transition from U19 to senior level football, achieving a total of 27 appearances for Waterford's first team. In the First Division Promotion Playoffs, he scored a hat-trick in the semi-final, helping Waterford to a crucial victory that led them to subsequently winning promotion to the Premier Division.
Romeo came off the bench on Friday, as Waterford drew 1-1 to Shelbourne in their first game of the new League of Ireland season.
Akachukwu will become the second signing from an Irish club this season, following 18-year-old midfielder Joseph O'Brien-Whitmarsh, who joined in January from Cork City FC. Since then, Joe has been involved in two league games for the U21s, against Leicester and Arsenal.
In both these moves, there was the direct involvement of Player Link, that played an important part in connecting the players' representatives with the club.
Player Link is a scouting platform designed to make the recruitment process for European clubs faster and easier by identifying talent within Ireland and Northern Ireland. Through this platform, clubs will have access to a detailed database that will hold a list of all the players in the country who have the potential to progress to the next level.
It is my understanding that these are not the only moves facilitated by Player Link that will take place, and there will be more players coming in over the course of the next season or two.