YAN Valery has been afforded the third-highest amount of game time for a teenager in the Premier League this season, according to Squawka.
Valery, 19, has played a total of 809 minutes from 12 games in the top-flight, which leaves him behind Fulham’s Ryan Sessegnon [1,462] and Arsenal’s Matteo Guendouzi [1,556].
The right-back, who turns 20 on Friday, made his Premier League debut in Mark Hughes’ final game in charge of Saints against Manchester United.
Since then, Valery has managed to keep his place under Ralph Hasenhuttl – even pushing European Championship-winning defender Cedric Soares out of the side.
And with Cedric now on loan at Inter Milan until the end of the season, and with no extra competition for the right-back position, Valery should keep his spot in the back four.
It hasn’t been the easiest of rides, though.
He was taken off at half-time against Cardiff, after being given a torrid time by Josh Murphy, in what was Hasenhuttl’s first game in charge.
Valery was then sent off at the King Power Stadium during Saints’ 2-1 win over Leicester for two bookable offences.
However, Hasenhuttl continued to put his faith in the youngster, which is paying off after a string of good performances.
Elsewhere on the list, Saints striker Michael Obafemi is currently in tenth position when it comes to minutes played by teenagers in the Premier League.
Obafemi, 18, made his debut last season during the home match with Tottenham Hotspur but had to wait until December to score his first professional goal for the club.
The Republic of Ireland international has been injured since scoring against Huddersfield but could be set to make his return this weekend when Saints visit Arsenal.
Obafemi continued his recovery from the hamstring injury, as he travelled with the squad for a warm-weather training camp in Tenerife last week.
The third and final player from Saints listed in Squawka’s top-15 list is defender Kayne Ramsay.
Ramsay has only made the one appearance for Hasnehuttl’s side which came against Manchester City towards the end of December.
He started the match and played the entire 90 minutes alongside James Ward-Prowse.
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