Middlesbrough’s youngest-ever play to feature for the club hasn’t had the best of starts since making a summer move to the Premier League.
On 14 August 2018, aged 16 years, two months, and 14 days, Nathan Wood made his senior debut for Boro against Notts County.
Wood was touted for big things at the club but never really hit the ground running, making 14 first-team appearances along with loan moves to Hibernian and Crewe Alexandra.
He would be sold on to Swansea City in 2022 and became a much more regular feature, playing over 70 times for the Championship club before joining newly promoted Southampton in the summer.
Boro benefitted from the deal thanks to a “healthy add-on clause”, however, it’s not been the best of starts for the young defender.
Ex-Middlesbrough youngster Nathan Wood still waiting for Premier League debut
Southampton made the 22-year-old one of their first signings after agreeing to sign him for £3m in July.
At that sort of price, you’d have expected Wood to play semi-regularly but seven games into the Premier League campaign, Wood is still yet to play a single minute.
In fact, in five of the seven games, the central defender hasn’t even been in the matchday squad.
His only two appearances so far have come in the EFL Cup in which he played the full game against Cardiff City and Everton.
It’s a disappointing start for a player who had so much potential when coming through the academy at Boro, but with plenty of time left, his chance may be just around the corner.
What Southampton boss Russell Martin has had to say about Nathan Wood
Martin, who managed Wood while at Swansea, was keen to bring the defender to Southampton.
While in the Championship, Southampton tried and failed with a £10m bid to sign him.
That seems like a lot for a player who they now have and aren’t utilising, especially when Martin considered him to be a real leader while in charge of him.
Back in 2023, he told Hampshire Live: “He is just a brilliant young man who we have hopefully helped be able to express himself on the pitch and off it.
“He’s an incredible learner and he’s incredibly brave with the way that he plays. He will play at the very top, no doubt about it. He is a huge asset to the football club, on the pitch and off the pitch. He will be a huge asset financially at some point.”