Southampton have famously produced a vast amount of players from their youth ranks that have gone on to have big careers in the game such as Alan Shearer, Matt Le Tissier, Gareth Bale, Luke Shaw and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

One other player that came through Southampton's youth academy to become a well-known name in football is 32-year-old winger Theo Walcott.

With a total of 373 Premier League appearances under his belt, 53 of those have come for Southampton, bagging eight goals and providing three assists in the process.

Taking into account his age, the fact that with his contract is set to expire in the summer of 2023 and the fact that Walcott has failed to score a goal or provide an assist in seven appearances across all competitions this term, it would make sense if Ralph Hasenhuttl starting thinking about a potential replacement for the veteran.

With this in mind, we feel that the south-coast club could already have their ideal long-term heir for Walcott in 18-year-old attacker Ramello Mitchell.

Southampton added Mitchell to their U18 side back in the 2019 summer transfer window from Birmingham City's youth academy for an undisclosed fee.

When he made the move to St. Mary's, Mitchell was labelled as a player with "huge potential" by former Saints director of football, Ross Wilson.

Since then, the player has gone on to make 26 appearances for Southampton's U18 side, beating the goalkeeper on three occasions and supplying two assists whilst also making 28 appearances for their B team.

So far this season, Mitchell has played in all of the Southampton B team games so far this season except for their 1-0 win over Reading's U23 side, showing how important he is to the team.

Additionally, Mitchell has played on the right-wing and as a centre-forward on occasion this season, the two roles that Walcott has played in more than any other position throughout his long career.

However, most vital to this comparison is their tremendous pace. In the Daily Mail's Secret Scout report last year, they described the teenager as a 'powerful runner', something Walcott has always been famed for.

Moving forward, if the experienced speedster does end up leaving the south coast when his deal ends, it could give the aforementioned youngster a pathway to breaking into their senior side, much in the same way Nathan Tella has.

However, given how he has yet to score a goal or provide an assist for Southampton's B team, we feel Mitchell will have to show that he can be a useful attacking option at that level and prove himself to Hasenhuttl before being given a chance to shine in the first team.

In other news: Get rid: Ralph must let go of £18k-p/w forgotten Saints figure, his time's running out - opinion