Scouting Report: Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton)

 

The facts:

Full name: Nathaniel Edwin Clyne
Date of birth: April 5th 1991
Club: Southampton
Position: Right back
Height: 1.75m
Weight: 67kg
Squad number: 2

Nathaniel Clyne is a young player with a growing reputation in football and came through Crystal Palace’s highly respected youth academy. Crystal Palace youth academy has produced a number of young talented footballers in recent years, the most notable being Victor Moses who recently signed for Chelsea after taking Wigan by storm.

Despite being just 21, Clyne made 123 appearances for Crystal Palace before moving to Southampton this summer. He has since played in all of Southampton’s games so far this season.

His composure, work rate, speed and tenacity has made him an instant success despite being in an under-performing team. This does not come as a surprise to me though as he won Crystal Palace Young Player Of The Year twice, Football League Young Player Of The Year once and Crystal Palace Player Of The Year once in his three year spell at Crystal Palace.

As far as his football is concerned he put his development first by turning down a move to then Premier League club Wolvehampton Wanderers in 2010 as he did not feel he was ready and wanted more first-team football.

Clyne was one of the stars in a Crystal Palace team that contained Victor Moses, Wilfred Zaha, Sean Scannell and Jonathan Williams. All of which featured (except Moses) in The Eagles’ shock win against Manchester United in the League Cup last season.

 

My ratings:

Speed- 85/100, potential speed 85/100.

Crossing- 74/100, potential crossing 83/100.

Work rate- 86/100, potential work rate 90/100.

Tackling- 77/100, potential tackling 84/100.

Last ditch tackles- 83/100, potential last ditch tackles 88/100.

Positioning- 71/100, potential positioning 83/100.

Discipline- 88/100, potential discipline 88/100.

Market value- £8m, potential market value £18m.

 

The summary:

With his composure and reliability Clyne could easily be a future England international, however there is fierce competition coming from both Richards and Kyle Walker for that England right back spot. Clyne will no doubt be a player of quality, but I do not think he will be a player long remembered after retirement.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwhGmkLR5a0&feature=player_detailpage

 

Report written by Thomas Munson

Follow him on Twitter @Eltomo71