Valentino Livramento

[killer1257 3,282]

I hope nobody buys him next summer. People who watched youth knew how good he was. Broke every possible record 

[King Kante 1,476]

Got to feel sorry for him with that ACL. 

[Vesper 28,802]

Tino Livramento has long been in demand – he was destined for the top from an early age

https://theathletic.com/3756527/2022/12/30/tino-livramento-southampton-potential/

Where Tino Livramento grew up is certainly different to where he lives now.

The suburban din of south London has been exchanged for the serenity of Ocean Village; a high-end, yacht-filled marina on the River Itchen and traditionally home to many of Southampton’s players, board members and managers.

Ralph Hasenhuttl had an apartment in the same tower block where Livramento resides and would occasionally run into him. Their car parking spaces were alongside each other, so Hasenhuttl, as he enjoyed pointing out, would know whether Livramento was at home or not.

But it is not like the 20-year-old is a tearaway, anyway.

At Staplewood, staff have marvelled at Livramento’s dedication in returning from the long-term anterior cruciate ligament knee injury he sustained in April. He worked in the gym throughout the summer and made his return to the grass near the start of autumn. He began training on the next pitch to the first team, completing running and sprinting drills without a ball but using plenty of cones. His return to Premier League action is moving closer.

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That level of dedication originated in the London Burrough of Sutton, where Livramento was raised by his Scottish mother Caroline and Portuguese father Louis, who played a key role in helping him decide on joining Southampton last year.

It is early December and the World Cup remains the only thing entrenched in footballing minds. But The Athletic is in a snowy south London, on the playing fields alongside the Roundshaw estate. It is where Valentino, as his closest family still call him, started out.

 

The playing fields where Livramento played as a youngster

Roundshaw United, his first junior side, are now defunct but beyond the estate and what used to be the clubhouse lie the same playing fields. Those fields are precisely 2.34 kilometres long and would welcome hundreds of players and many junior teams each week.

There is a solitary building facing out towards the fields, with multiple changing rooms inside. Above the entrance is a banner saying “home to Sutton Common Rovers”, who play in the Isthmian South Central Division but they will soon be moving to Whyteleafe Sports Centre, a 3G playing surface. And as we cast our gaze across the blanket of snow enveloping the pitches as far as the eye can see, it makes perfect sense.

The Roundshaw playing fields go backwards and venture slightly uphill, with at least three full-sized pitches on every bank. A line of trees separates each incline and to the right is the Roundshaw estate, where the only person The Athletic comes into contact with is walking their dog. It used to be filled with life and noise on the weekends.

Livramento played here until under-9s level, both for Roundshaw and then Epsom Eagles for a year. Incidentally, at the latter, he was coached by former Manchester City and Wales defender Ben Thatcher. There, he played at centre-back before being swiftly moved forward to end the season as his side’s top scorer. It was during that time he was spotted and scouted by Chelsea, who invited him for a trial.

There, with his crossing and powerful running standing out, it made sense to mould him into a full-back.

As he settled into life at Cobham, which included having two days off school per week to train, Livramento’s talents soon took him to the international stage, playing for England schoolboys. Livramento would later captain England’s under-18s against Brazil, saying it was his proudest moment in football to date.

Southampton had known about Livramento for a long time. So much so that in most games Chelsea played against them, they would keep a close eye on him. Observers noted how Livramento, for such a young man, would always want to be involved in the most difficult situations on the pitch, whether that be receiving under pressure or dragging his team through adversity.

Even from right-back, Chelsea would look to him to get them back into games. They knew Livramento, forged by his days on Roundshaw, would always be willing to stand up and be counted. His ability to drive forward with and without the ball was his most distinctive attribute, routinely getting to the byline and hitting crosses that were consistently accurate. As you would expect for a player his age, there was an acceptance his defending needed work, but no challenge ever seemed to faze him.

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Born in November 2002, Livramento was raised by his parents, along with his older brother and sister, Louis and Paloma. The family home was a little over a mile away from those grassy, often muddied, pitches.

Half a mile down the road from Roundshaw is Wallington, home to Livramento. Wallington is a suburban town, with a busy main road steering through the quieter, leafy cul-de-sacs. On a good day, it is less than a five-minute drive to the playing fields.

 

Livramento was raised in Wallington

His first secondary school, Woodcote High, was just over two miles away, located in Coulsdon, Croydon — roughly a 15-minute journey by bus.

“He was absolutely lovely when he was here,” Jayne Liddemore, who was Livramento’s head of year eight and nine tells The Athletic. “He was a bright, intelligent young man who I kept trying to persuade to do A-levels but he wasn’t interested. I told him he should be going to university — he’s that bright. But he only ever wanted to play football. He was always absolutely charming. He had a fantastic sense of humour.”

It was here that Livramento would secretly play for Woodcote’s football team, unbeknown to Chelsea.

“He was good at everything,” says Liddemore. “He didn’t have to try too hard to do well. He knew where his future was going. He didn’t necessarily see the value in education at times and could be a little bit laid back about it. He could be a bit chatty but was very rarely in trouble. I remember how all the girls would swoon over him!”

“You could say that!” laughs AFC Wimbledon attacker Nathan Young-Coombes, when The Athletic asks if Livramento was, indeed, a hit with the ladies. “I’ve known Tino since we were four. We went to the same nursery. We played for Chelsea together when we were seven before going to the same high school, where we were in each other’s classes. I then lived with Tino for another two years — we’ve been best friends forever near enough. I’ve spent more time with Tino than I have with my family.”

Sister Paloma was at the same school and was regarded as the louder of the Livramento siblings.

“Tino keeps to himself,” says Young-Coombes. “He’s a lovable guy. I’ll doubt you’ll come across anybody that says a bad word about Tino. He’s such a nice guy. He’s probably one of the guys that you want to be around just to make yourself better.”

 

Livramento attended Woodcote until the end of year nine

As was customary with Chelsea’s promising youth talent, Livramento moved to Glyn School in year 10, which coincided with him being integrated into the club’s full-time footballing programme. Even though Livramento had kept up with his studies at Woodcote, Chelsea and Glyn share close ties. Glyn provided the club’s scholars with a full-time education programme. This consisted of seven full-time teachers working with the players for 20 hours a week at the academy.

Livramento and his team-mates were taught every GCSE subject, including all the core subjects as well as business, history, French or Spanish and religious studies. The switch in education, consequently, enabled Chelsea to dictate his schedule to a greater extent.

“His memory was almost photographic,” says Simon Knight, Livramento’s former PE teacher at Glyn. “His recall was phenomenal. He would come across as quite shy, but he would be taking everything in. His confidence certainly grew in the two years we had him.”

“I was so upset when he had to leave,” says Liddemore. “We did everything we could to persuade him to stay in education but he was absolutely set. And Chelsea were absolutely clear he was going to make it. I had a couple of meetings with them and they told me he was going to go all the way.”

 

Livramento in action for Chelsea at youth level (Photo: Alex Burstow/Getty Images)

Despite leaving Woodcote, Livramento would return once a year to see his old teachers and friends.

“He was just so down to earth,” smiles Liddemore. “I always used to get Christmas presents from him, like little boxes of chocolate. On one occasion, he got me a Chelsea shirt that he signed and addressed to me. I’ve still got that now. He used to be quite embarrassed when he gave me those presents because I think his parents used to make him bring them in. He’d walk into my office and shove it at me and walk out before I could say anything — he would be blushing furiously.”

“He was in a very strong year group,” Knight says. “He was in the same class as the likes of Levi Colwill, Lewis Bate, Ben Elliott and Jamal Musiala. They went on to win pretty much everything that year.”

 

The football pitches at Glyn School

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After spending the final two years completing his GCSEs (let’s just say he did not like Spanish), there became an inevitability Livramento would make it as a footballer. But competition at Chelsea is fierce and there was not a clear pathway into the first team, so a move away became an option for a player who wanted game time.

Southampton were keen, given their knowledge of the player spanned several years and extensive scouting, but there was growing trepidation at the possibility of Livramento slipping through their fingers.

There was understandable frustration towards the end of the 2020-21 campaign when it emerged Brighton were favourites to sign him. Everton, prior to Rafa Benitez’s arrival as manager, were also confident of agreeing a deal for the full-back after their recruitment team thought they had done the appropriate groundwork.

Southampton, meanwhile, were led by chief executive Martin Semmens and had been in dialogue with Chelsea’s director Marina Granovskaia since March 2021. Staff inside Staplewood were under no doubt that, if Livramento were to sign, he would be able to hit the ground running in the Premier League, such was their total faith in him.

And as far as they, Brighton and other interested parties were concerned, it was increasingly clear the teenager could make the step into first-team football and flourish.

“I remember one time we played against a team that we were beating quite heavily,” recalls Young-Coombes. “They were putting in bad challenges all over the pitch and everyone was getting irate. Tino got kicked about a thousand times. But he just kept on picking himself back up and nothing fazed him. He then got the ball, dribbled past all of their team and scored. He acted as if what he had just done was normal.”

After winning Chelsea’s academy player of the year at the end of that season and an agreement with Brighton falling through, Southampton became the frontrunners again and eventually managed to seal a £5million ($6.17m) deal in August, with the club only required to start paying back the fee during the summer just gone. Chelsea were hesitant to let him go and inserted a £50m ($61.74m) buy-back clause that kicks in next year. That figure is caveated by Chelsea having also installed a sell-on clause, meaning the actual buy-back price would be in the region of £38m ($46.92).

Now there is great satisfaction at Southampton that they were able to sign Livramento when he was 18. His performances prior to injury were remarkable and served as the catalyst for the club’s resurgence in reputation for nurturing young players, both within the academy and buying externally.

Players since, such as Romeo Lavia from Manchester City, have followed a similar path in coming to the south coast and playing regularly in the Premier League. Livramento is Southampton’s prototype; his acquisition has encouraged other talented players to move from bigger clubs.

Significantly, the actual framework of Southampton’s deal to sign Livramento has continued to draw envy from higher-ranked Premier League sides, who have been surprised at how they managed to finalise those favourable terms. They have made their admiration known privately.

For Livramento, the focus now is on playing where his feet are — both at Southampton and firmly on the ground. His roots remain in south London, near the family home, and despite the additional trappings of popularity, he keeps the same circle of friends and is in touch with schoolmates on social media.

“He’s ahead of schedule and the knee has been feeling good,” says Young-Coombes. “He’s never fazed by anything. He could play week in week out in the Prem, have the best performance of his life and yet, tomorrow, come to my house to watch football or play golf.  As a professional footballer that’s the epitome of what you need from a mentality standpoint.”

“Some players think they’ve made it to the top and they’ve done everything,” team-mate Che Adams tells The Athletic. “But, in reality, they’ve done nothing. The young players (like Tino) who have come here want to push on because they’re at Southampton to better their careers and make the most out of it. He takes everything on board and wants to get better.”

Livramento has been stepping up his recovery and is nearing a return to playing. It is hoped that same fearless verve, first derived and built on those Roundshaw fields and in Wallington, will soon be recaptured.