Yan Valery made his first team debut for Southampton in November 2018, more than three years after he joined the English club’s academy from Rennes.
The right-back made his league debut against Manchester United in the following December, and months later he scored his first goal for the Saints against the Red Devils.
France Football have carried out a detailed interview with the 21-year-old. When asked his views on completing five years at Southampton, Valery revealed there were other clubs interested in him before he agreed to join the Premier League side.
“I hadn’t even thought about it, it goes so quickly! I arrived at Southampton from Stade Rennais when I was 16. At first, it was a little weird: you are in a new country and you have to adapt to the language. I feel like playing with the U18s was yesterday,” the defender said.
“I had a lot of ups and downs. More ups… I remember the day I decided to join Southampton. It was after the Montaigu tournament. There were a few clubs interested. When I heard Southampton, I don’t know, directly, I thought it was perfect.”
Valery made 20 league starts in the 2018/19 season and the number of starts halved in the following campaign. This was partly due to a virus infection, which forced him to miss two months of the last term. The Frenchman admitted he lost confidence last season.
“It was a very tough season. I had injuries and especially infectious mononucleosis. For three to four months I couldn’t do anything. I missed Boxing Day; I missed a lot of matches. When I came back, I felt great, but the problem with mononucleosis is that the virus is still in you. So, you are not allowed to train otherwise you can have lung problems. I was frustrated,” he explained.
“Then I had to redo all my physical preparation. I came back to play against Newcastle, and there, directly, there is the coronavirus. And, again, I couldn’t play and train for a long time. On the return, my confidence was not at the top, I did not play my best football. A bitter season. But I learned a lot of things from those times. It made me work a lot mentally. We must try to take the positive from bad things.
“This season, I want to play, I need to play, I know where I want to go. I have to regain my confidence and continue to improve.”
When further quizzed where he wants to go, Valery said: “I want to be at the top level, play in the best clubs, be an international. I don’t want to stop there, to be just a Premier League player or an average player. I don’t put any limits.
“This season, I want to play as many matches as possible, to become consistent. Then, when you are consistent and you play good matches, everything follows.”
