SAINTS academy midfielder Kegs Chauke has signed a new two-year contract with the club, the Daily Echo understands.

The 19-year-old’s current St Mary’s deal had been due to expire at the end of June, with talks ongoing over new terms for the last few months.

Chauke and his representatives had sought assurances over a loan move for the youngster to experience his first steps in senior football next season.

Positive meetings had taken place with loan manager Danny Butterfield, academy director Matt Hale and head of scouting and recruitment Martyn Glover.

And the Daily Echo can reveal that Chauke yesterday signed his part of a new two-year deal to remain with Saints.

The next steps will be to find Chauke a Football League loan, with early nibbles of interest registered but nothing solid yet.

Chauke made 20 Premier League 2 appearances for Dave Horseman's B team last season, as well as playing in all three EFL Trophy matches versus league opposition. 

As well as level, it is important to those close to Chauke that the loan destination has good characters and a manager that wants to develop the young player.

Saints will always retain a call-back clause for January so they can progress his level during the season, depending on his developmental progress.

Promising youngster Chauke became involved regularly with the first-team during the 2020-21 season, making the Premier League substitutes bench on 10 occasions and was awarded a full debut by Ralph Hasenhuttl in the FA Cup victory over Shrewsbury.

While Chauke did make the bench at Swansea and versus Brentford last season, Hasenhuttl increased the size of his first-team squad with potential impacts of COVID testing and injuries in mind.

Chauke, who had reported interest from Manchester City earlier this campaign, did not join the academy system until under-15s.

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this article - we appreciate your support in reading the Daily Echo.

Subscribing to the Echo means you have unrestricted access to the latest news, features and Saints coverage - all with an advertising-light website.

You will also have full access to Saintsplus, your new home for Southampton FC tactical analysis, features and much, much more.

Don't take my word for it - subscribe here to see for yourself.

Follow the latest breaking news in the Southampton area by joining our Facebook group - Southampton News - Breaking News and Incidents

Follow the latest court and crime news on our dedicated Facebook group - Hampshire Court and Crime News