Academy Loan Watch: Ehibhatiomhan and Wright make positive start
With the 2025/26 season in full flow, we take our first look at how Saints' youngsters have fared out on loan across the English pyramid and abroad.
Kicking off in the EFL, Saints' pair of League Two loanees are in a positive run of form at the moment.
Striker Princewill Ehibhatiomhan joined Swindon Town for his first senior loan, and has so far scored three goals in seven games across all competitions for the early leaders in the fourth-tier.
On his debut in the Carabao Cup, just a day after he joined the Robins, he scored against League One side Cardiff with an impressive touch to beat his defender before slotting home calmly.
His next two goals have come in back-to-back games as he scored against Reading in the EFL Trophy before coming off the bench to head home against Barrow for his first league goal.
Elsewhere in the league, goalkeeper Ollie Wright has made his mark between the sticks at Accrington Stanley with six appearances, two clean sheets and a penalty save in his first EFL loan move.
After sporadic involvement in the first few weeks of his loan, Wright nailed down his spot after impressing against Grimsby Town and saving a penalty in a 1-1 draw on his first League Two appearance.
Including that game, he has now started four league games in a row and earned two clean sheets; he stood out in a goalless draw against Shrewsbury and followed that with a 1-0 win over Colchester United, lifting Stanley out of the early relegation places.
Wright's League Two debut penalty save. (Photo: Jack Horton-Carysforth/Accrington Stanley)
Down in the National League, two more youngsters are furthering their development on loan.
Full-back Sonnie Davis has settled in to life at Saints' non-league neighbours Eastleigh, with seven appearances and one assist so far.
After waiting for his chance to start, he's made two back-to-back 90-minute appearances in the Spitfires' most recent matches and registered an assist in a 2-2 draw against FC Halifax Town last time out.
Elsewhere, Will Armitage returned to the fifth tier after an impressive loan last season, this time joining Brackley Town in September.
He played 90 minutes on his debut, and kept a clean sheet in a goalless draw away to Hartlepool United.
Further afield, Japanese youth international Rento Takaoka made a positive start at Valenciennes, with a brace on just his second appearance for the club in the Championnat National.
He came on as a half-time substitute against Le Puy Foot 43 Auvergne, and scored twice in the space of a whirlwind five minutes where both sides traded goals to complete a 2-1 win for Valenciennes.
Takaoka has made five league appearances in total for the French side so far.
Finally, striker Daouda Traoré has made his first two appearances for Betis Deportivo Balompié - Real Betis' second side - in the Primera Federación.
The French youth international featured off the bench in both games for his first involvement in the Spanish third tier.
Main image: Princewill Ehibhatiomhan on his Swindon debut. (Photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images)
