Northampton Town: Goal of latest Brighton agreement will be to repeat Marc Leonard success - View | OneFootball

20-year-old aims to follow in the footsteps of previous Player of the Season.

Highlights

Northampton Town have completed the signing of Brighton U21's captain Samy Chouchane on a season-long loan.

Cobblers have built a strong relationship with the south coast club through the development of Marc Leonard, culminating in the signing of the Tunisian youth international.

Leonard initially joined Town on a season-long loan in July 2022, turning out 45 times, which included 37 starts, playing a significant part in the side's promotion to League One.

The Scotsman, surprisingly, returned for a second loan spell ahead of Town's 2023/24 League One campaign, starting every league fixture and winning the club's Player of the Season accolade ahead of a £500k move to League One title favourites Birmingham City.

Northampton's development of Leonard has not gone unnoticed by the Premier League club, who trust Brady to manage one of their premium young assets.

Leonard's two spells at the club may have directly contributed to the signing of Chouchane, with the Tunisian admitting that Leonard had an impact on his decision to join Northampton.

He said: "I spoke to Marc Leonard, he told me really good things about the club and that's why I came here."

Jon Brady continues to nurture strong relationships

As a club with significantly less spending power than some of their counterparts in League One, Northampton have had to adapt to become particularly strong in the loan market.

Since Brady took control of operations permanently in 2021, Town have had significant success with most of their loan dealings, helping them to compete without the unsustainable financial outlay of buying players.

Northampton have also struck up a strong partnership with Fulham who, after Kieron Bowie's exploits alongside Leonard, have trusted Town with the services of their U21's skipper, Matt Dibley-Dias, too.

As a result of Bowie and Leonard's fantastic loan spells with the club, Cobblers have now acquired both U21 captains from their respective clubs, young assets the top-flight clubs clearly rate among their best.

Brighton allowing Cobblers to take charge of Chouchane's development re-affirms that they believe the environment and coaching on offer at Northampton can return them a senior professional, as they look to blood their 20-year-old product into senior football.

Brady was formerly the U18's manager at the club and his assistant, Ian Sampson, the academy manager. The pairing have worked fantastically with young players that have arrived during their tenure and are arguably Town's biggest asset at this moment in time.

While direct comparisons with the outgoing Leonard may pile unnecessary pressure on Chouchane, the Scotsman's success has proven that the young Tunisian could have a big impact at Northampton.

Leonard's progress and subsequent big-money move to Birmingham has proven that if Chouchane can bed into senior football and translate the qualities he has shown at youth level, he has all the opportunities to thrive at Cobblers and potentially force himself into the picture on the south coast.

Brighton will be hoping that Chouchane can settle into the environment and take over the role that served Leonard so well to replicate his success and return them a player who can contribute to their first team.

In a move that follows a successful blueprint, Cobblers fans should be excited about the acquisition of, on paper, a talent rated more by Brighton than Leonard was and Brighton supporters and operatives should be assured that the midfielder is in safe hands with the opportunity he requires to make a name for himself. Leonard's recent exploits will only fuel that confidence.