THERE remains an exciting bit of intrigue and mystery over one of last summer’s young signings; Dynel Simeu arrived with all the pedigree but supporters are yet to see him.

Part of that has been due to his own drive and ambition. The 20-year-old pushed to leave the comfort zone of academy football and pursue two loans the other side of the country.

The fact he is a Southampton-local, Cameroonian-born, former Chelsea teammate of household names such as Tino Livramento, Levi Colwill, Armando Broja and more adds to it.

The strong defender’s performances out in League Two with Carlisle United and Tranmere Rovers – and becoming a fan-favourite both on and off the pitch – have heightened it.

Read more: Southampton youngster who earned pro contract despite two years injured

Coming seconds from making it onto the pitch in the Premier League and cups for Saints, before being told to sit back down, have consolidated it.

Daily Echo: Southampton's Dynel Simeu during the Premier League match between Southampton and Spurs at St Mary's Stadium. Photo by Stuart Martin..

“I’ve been so close but that makes me more hungry. I thought I might have come on against Swansea but unfortunately Yan Valery got a red card,” Simeu told the Daily Echo. 

“When we beat Brentford 4-1, Armando got concussion or an injury to the head so again I sat back down. I feel ready but I never got my opportunity under Ralph Hasenhuttl.”

By his own admission, he might have been inadvertently done a favour by being left on the bench this season during the 3-0 EFL Cup win over Cambridge United.

Had he come on then, FA rules mean he could not play for a third side this season and in his current loan contract at Tranmere there is a January recall clause.

Coming on would have meant that was not possible. But Simeu is not thinking about what will happen in January and is well settled into the house and area he speaks to me from.

“I think with football, you have to live in the moment,” Simeu comments. “Supporters will ask you, ‘are you going to sign?’ You just have to say ‘enjoy it while I’m here’.

“I’m in a good area. Carlisle was tough off the pitch because I didn’t know the area too well and I was just trying to focus.

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“You try to get the right balance but outside of football I didn’t really do much until the back end of the season when I started exploring.

“Off the pitch, I could have felt lonely. Here is more of a neutral location and I know people around Manchester. I feel at home in my house, and I’ve got my privacy.”

Simeu is an independent person who enjoys his own company but after a “hectic” deadline day he came back into League Two accepting the need to express himself and show “the real Dynel” to work his way up.

He picked up four man-of-the-match awards in a row in a run of five successive clean sheets, while the EFL recently shared a metric showing he was among the highest-rated XI of under-21 players in the three leagues.

But Simeu’s age and inexperience showed with a rash decision to throw Harry Pell to the floor off the ball as passion boiled over just 30 minutes into last weekend’s defeat to AFC Wimbledon.

He took to Twitter the next day to apologise unreservedly to Tranmere’s supporters, who had in the weeks prior been singing a special Simeu chant loud and clear from the Kop stand.

“I think the guy who made up the full song messaged me recently and everyone just picked it up really quickly,” Simeu laughed, when asked for his thoughts on the anthem.

“They sing that a lot and it doesn’t go unnoticed on the pitch, especially when they’re all behind you and clapping you. It feels class.

“It doesn’t go over my head, I show the love back. Whether that’s giving to charity or stopping to take a photo with a young fan, I know it goes a long way because I was that kid playing Sunday league at 13 with the same dream.”

Simeu explained: “That was why it was important for me to not play under-21s football this season; coming off the back of playing in front 8,000 or so fans it’s harder to recreate that.

“Whether it’s people booing you or cheering you on, it’s an atmosphere you can’t make up.”

Simeu’s ultimate goal is to play as high as possible and that would ideally come in Southampton; his local club, with St Mary’s practically the only stadium he visited as a child.

Simeu has lived in both the town centre and Woolston, recalling to me times of playing for Bitterne Youth Terriers, Chamberlayne Athletic, Southampton Schools and the City Central.

His childhood – spent with the same friends he keeps now – was cycling in and out of town and playing football in the cages at Hogsland and Maryoak Parks.

“We used to just go out for ages kicking a ball, or just going to the park and doing keepy-ups by myself,” Simeu reflected.

“I always had games consoles but I never had the latest games, or wouldn’t be allowed it until the weekend. Everyone’s on Fortnite now, I didn’t even have a phone – you’d just go and knock on your friend’s house!”

Simeu credits his family for the opportunity they have given him and its significance becomes more apparent when he shows me one of his boots – adorned with both an English and Cameroonian flag.

I asked about his early years; Simeu’s Yaoundé-based parents moved to Southampton when he was just three, forced to leave his extended family behind in the process.

“My family moved in search of a better life,” he explained. “Like a lot of people coming from Africa, my parents worked really hard and I think they struggled a lot before we were out here.

“I was too young to know what it was like but my dad came over here to give us a better life and he has done. I’ve only been back to Cameroon once, but I’ve been meaning to go back. A few things didn’t feel into place last summer.”

From there, the conversation naturally moved to national allegiances. Of course, it is an incredibly difficult task to force your way into the England manager’s thoughts.

Simeu represented the Three Lions through the youth age groups under the likes of Ian Foster and Steve Cooper, and has worn the armband for the country.

The opportunity to represent the nation that has given you your life cannot be passed up but – especially with a growing pride in touching in with African heritage – your birthplace retains a special calling.

“For sure. I’m torn between the two, I feel equally Cameroonian as I do English. I have lived in England my whole life and the country has done a lot for me,” Simeu said, asked if he would play for Cameroon should the chance present itself.

“But most of my family are still in Africa. My parents go there yearly, I’m in contact with them and I try to help when I can by sending kit back. That’s my roots and I want to get in touch with my past.”

The sacrifice Simeu’s family made that has allowed Dynel to become a professional footballer did not stop there; and he himself shared in the next steps.

From riding his bike to training in all weathers while his mother worked to impressing on a one-day trial with Chelsea – his life then became school, travel, football, sleep and repeat.

Simeu left home and started digs at a young age, as the once central midfielder became a right-back and eventually a centre-back – “the last position I ever wanted to play,” he joked.

He had always been bigger than the other kids and would run through most with ease; equally he admits always standing out by being vocal and sporting coloured hairstyles.

Perhaps that explains the dominating centre-halve wearing bright orange boots – some football purists will not forgive that, but the Puma athlete is something of a connoisseur.

Simeu’s time at Chelsea, including playing up an age group in a title-winning under-18s team, under-23s success and again wearing the armband, has left him with familiar friends.

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“Levi Colwill (on loan at Brighton & Hove Albion) was my centre-back partner, so me, Tino (Livramento) and Levi all played together,” Simeu said.

“I’ve grown up with Levi and have always been close to some of his family, we went to the same schools and stuff. I still talk to him now, we have a good relationship.”

Simeu then recounted a story of long-time teammate Livramento signing for Saints just days after his own move back to SO.

“It was weird because I think Fabrizio Romano leaked that I was signing and I think the day after Tino messaged me to ask about the club and told me he was coming,” Simeu revealed.  

“He then sent me a photo in Southampton and soon after I shared a photo of us and people guessed he was coming!”

I stopped to ask Simeu, a professional footballer, former youth international and a hopeful future Premier League defender, about Romano – and game recognises game.

“Fabrizio is the goat,” he quipped. “I don’t know how he knows everything or his sources, but he’s a step ahead of the game. It’s crazy how popular he is because everyone respects him.”

Another friendship continued to blossom for Simeu when he went on this year’s pre-season tour of Austria with the first-team.

The youngster was already one of those B team stars most frequently called upon to train with Hasenhuttl’s seniors before excelling away on loan, something he describes as “great experience”.

Usually alongside him was Thierry Small and, although he admits not being as close to all teammates after only signing from Chelsea last year, Simeu labels the teenager his “little bro”.

All the Saints players were given their own room on the July trip – an impressive hotel that Simeu speculates pulled out all the stops, including a musical serenade, due to manager Hasenhuttl’s fame in the country – but Small was knocking on his door constantly.

“I check up on him and stuff, we talk to each other. When I speak to Thierry sometimes I’m so surprised, I think he’s my age but he’s actually a few years younger,” Simeu insisted.

“He’s just an early developer, what he’s done now will only help him in the future. He likes to be commanding and to impose himself on the game. I’m sure whatever he chooses to do next will be right.

“I talk a lot to Tino (Livramento) obviously, Romeo (Lavia), Armel (Bella-Kotchap)l, Sekou (Mara), Will Smallbone I saw the other day, Nathan Tella, we’ve got a good young group of people.”

Lifting the mask on Simeu is to see a young man who remains calm in his desperation to play at the highest level; supporters and peers gravitate to a likeable personality but the football must do the talking.

In his own admission to me, the recent deadline day was the first he had spent trying to get out of a club. Doing so was the best chance to eventually fulfil a local dream and get back in.

Simeu’s career is still in its infancy – he has only 32 senior professional games under his belt – and the best is yet to come. He feels ready, but knows he has to prove it.

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