Scots at St Mary’s urged Jones to swap one Saints for another
Southampton midfielder Alfie Jones signed for St Mirren after being encouraged to move north by the Scottish contingent at St Mary’s.
The 20-year-old has swapped one set of Saints for another after moving to the Ladbrokes Premiership on a season-long loan.
Jones was sold on a move by Paisley manager Alan Stubbs and made his mind up after talking to former Celtic midfielder Stuart Armstrong and Southampton’s director of football operations, Ross Wilson, who was formerly in charge of Falkirk’s youth set-up.
“I spoke to Stuart Armstrong before coming up here, just about what the league is like and the fans and the crowds, and he spoke really highly of it,” said Jones, who can also play in central defence.
“So that was a big insight for me to come up and play football here.
“I also spoke to Ross Wilson, who has connections up here. He was a big factor as well, and told me how much of a great club it is to push on with my career.
“It’s a club going in the right direction, they showed that last season by getting promotion. So I wanted to be part of that and push on this year.
“Another factor was the manager; he showed interest from the start. He was the one showing the most interest. That’s a big factor. If a manager wants you, you want to go and prove him right and play well for him.”
Jones is captain of Southampton’s Under-23s and signed a new two-year contract this month after going on a pre-season tour with Mark Hughes’ first-team squad. But he was keen to go out on his first loan spell to take the next leap in his career.
“I tried to push to go on loan in January but unfortunately that didn’t happen, so I just got my head down and developed myself so I would be ready this season,” he said.
“Sam Gallagher has had a couple of loans and has come back strong and looks really sharp. Jack Stephens had a couple of loans before and now he has broken into the first team at Southampton. It just shows that if you do well on loan it opens doors.”