Southampton's rocky form in the Championship continued at home to Millwall this weekend just gone, the Saints losing 2-1 to the Lions who find themselves precariously just above the second tier relegation spots.
It's been a noticeable drop-off for Russell Martin's men who at one point looked dead set on an immediate return to the Premier League via the automatic promotion route, with Leeds United now occupying second place with a five-point advantage when fast-forwarding to the present.
Southampton do have a number of young talents on their side who can make a difference however to cut through the current doom and gloom, with former Manchester City winger Samuel Edozie impressing the St. Mary's masses in the 2-1 defeat at 21 years old when replacing an injury-stricken Ryan Fraser.
There's another starlet on the South Coast who could go on to be the most impressive one of them all, the attacking midfielder in question striving to be Southampton's next Adam Lallana if given a chance to succeed at senior level.
Ussumane Djalo's statistics at youth level
Once touted for a mega £8m away from FC Porto, with the likes of Manchester United and Everton sniffing about in the January transfer window, Southampton managed to acquire Ussumane Djalo's services at the start of this month on a youth loan surprisingly.
Able to play in a traditional central midfield role, on top of playing further forward in a position more accustomed to that of Lallana in his Saints prime in attacking midfield, Djalo shone at youth level in Portugal before relocating to the South Coast on loan.
The skilful creator would bag two goals and pick up a further two assists from 11 Porto Youth League appearances, helping himself to one of those assists against FC Barcelona U19s in the UEFA Youth League last year as Porto romped home to a 4-0 victory.
Onto six appearances for the Portugal U19s now as well, it could well be time for Djalo to cut his teeth at a senior level for Southampton soon.
The Portuguese starlet has only managed to make one appearance in the youth fold at the Saints since joining this month, but with a predicted bright future in the game, he could well go on to be a hero akin to Lallana if given time to shine.
Only at the club on loan – with a view to making the deal permanent – he could well be the long-term option in the centre of the park when Flynn Downes returns back to West Ham United come the end of the Championship campaign.
Djalo could be the next Lallana
Djalo is very much a midfielder with an eye to attack and shine going forward, as was Lallana when he dazzled at St. Mary's over various goal-filled seasons.
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The current Brighton veteran would amass 60 goals for the Saints in total, exiting the south coast club as a legend with 265 appearances tallied up.
Lallana's humble beginnings in the Saints youth set-up didn't stop him from excelling when making the leap to the first team, making his debut at just 18 years of age.
It could well be viewed as an outlandish claim to say Djalo could ever reach Lallana's heights, but with Djalo bagging three goals at international level for Portugal to date and with his two goals for Porto's youth side next to his name, the 19-year-old could well eventually burst into life for the Saints to then nail down a starting spot.
If that was the case, Southampton could rest a little easier over the prospect of Downes upping and leaving to head back to the London Stadium as well – Djalo adept at also playing in the centre of the park, as opposed to just being an attack-minded player.
Martin could utilise plenty of his young Saints talents such as Edozie and Jayden Meghoma in this midweek's FA Cup clash at Liverpool, with Djalo itching to be in the 38-year-old boss' plans soon if he does stay put beyond the end of this season.
