GOALKEEPER Willy Caballero revealed he and other experienced players at Chelsea “commented on a lot of positive things about Valentino” Livramento, while he was just an academy starlet.

The 19-year-old former Cobham defender has enjoyed a breakout Premier League season following his permanent move to Saints last summer.

With 23 matches of experience in the country’s top-flight has already come an England under-21 debut, of which he could be called up again when the squad for this month is announced on Friday.

This time last year, Livramento was just another promising youngster – on the finishing stretch of a strong season that saw him crowned the Blues’ academy player of the year.

Daily Echo: Tino Livramento could be set to return to the squad to face Willy Caballero's former side, Manchester City, this Sunday (Pic: PA)Tino Livramento could be set to return to the squad to face Willy Caballero's former side, Manchester City, this Sunday (Pic: PA)

Although not yet known to most of the St Mary’s faithful, he was already on the radar of future Saints teammate Caballero.

"No, not really. I had met Oriol Romeu once,” the 40-year-old responded, when asked if he had any friends in the Saints squad before joining as emergency cover in December.

“And I knew Valentino Livramento and Armando Broja from Chelsea,” he continued. “Because they were in the academy but with the COVID situation, we couldn't train together."

Caballero was on the books at the London side between 2017-2021, after joining from Manchester City.

Daily Echo: Armando Broja played for Chelsea throughout pre-season (Pic: PA)Armando Broja played for Chelsea throughout pre-season (Pic: PA)

“But I knew about them. Unbelievable. When I was at Chelsea, we commented on a lot of positive things about Valentino, with his potential and projection. And he did really well since the first game (here at Saints).”

Although Livramento made an immediate impact with a Premier League start on the opening weekend of the season, after just 45 minutes of pre-season action, Broja’s introduction was a slower burn.

The Albanian international had to cut his teeth in the EFL Cup on his debut, while manager Ralph Hasenhuttl called on the youngster to improve his physical outputs for a Premier League start – which first came in October.

"With Broja, we - and when I say we - I mean experienced players, because we sometimes spoke about some of the academy players and there were some doubts, but he is unbelievable and he is doing really well,” Caballero added.

Daily Echo: Goalkeeper Willy Caballero has featured in the FA Cup for Saints this season (Pic: Stuart Martin)Goalkeeper Willy Caballero has featured in the FA Cup for Saints this season (Pic: Stuart Martin)

“He is scoring goals and helping the team here and he believes in himself that he can be a good striker (in the Premier League), so that is fantastic."

Broja was named on the same bench as Caballero by Chelsea manager Frank Lampard, when the striker was handed a Premier League debut with a five-minute cameo in a 4-0 win over Everton, in March 2020.

That was the attacker’s only appearance for the Blues’ senior side, although that could change if the six-goal Premier League forward returns to his parent club at the end of this season.