DAN Nlundulu counts as one of the recent success stories of Southampton’s renowned academy – and the former Wanderer who set him on his way to Premier League football believes he can now thrive away from St Mary’s.

Radhi Jaidi worked with Bolton’s new permanent striker signing for a couple of years in the Saints’ Under-23s team and had monitored his progress through the club’s youth ranks from the age of 14.

The former Tunisia international, now assistant manager at Belgian club Cercle Brugge, reckons Nlundulu can fulfil his potential knowing he has the full backing of manager, Ian Evatt.

“I think he is in a very good place at Bolton,” Jaidi told The Bolton News. “For a player to succeed it is down to them but also to those people around him, the support staff, the coaching team, to make sure you are getting the very best out of them.

“Looking from the outside I can see that Ian Evatt has done a good job at Bolton and I think his team is set-up in a way that can be a benefit for Dan.

“The team has had success and it plays a modern brand of progressive football. I think it fits for him because he struggled under Raplh Hassenhuttl at Southampton when they played 4-4-2.

“Bolton play more of a 3-4-3 and it will suit him, enable him to move more freely between the lines, but he must also mature and make sure he is making the right decisions. The coaching he gets at Bolton will help him do that, I am sure.”

Jaidi spent two years as a player with Wanderers in the Premier League, earning a fearsome reputation as a centre-half with an eye for goal from set pieces.

He moved on to Birmingham City in 2006 and then to Southampton, where he spent a decade as a player, then coach.

During that time he was able to chart Nlundulu’s progress closely and, eventually, help him progress to first team level.

“I was working with the Under-21s and sometimes I would go to watch the younger teams and other coaches and Dan was coming through,” he said. “I remember his brother (Gael) was playing for Portsmouth and I think Dan was 14 or 15 when he came in at Southampton.

“He was born in France and I believe his parents were Congolese, but he settled very quickly and I saw him embrace the culture at Southampton, the habits, the way of life, and in the end he became more English than anything.

“I have to say he stayed very humble. He is the type of person who will speak to everyone, he is very social and approachable, and he will listen and take on board information, which is very important for a coach.

“I think he is an emotional person too, who gives real importance to the relationships he has with the support staff and with the coaches.”

Nlundulu arrived on loan in January, having played the first half of the season at Cheltenham Town. And though the eagerness to impress in his early games was evident, the young striker had to get to grips with the practicalities of playing a very different role for Bolton.

Evatt admitted more work was needed on his fitness. Nlundulu missed a few weeks with a hamstring injury and was consigned mainly to substitute appearances until the back end of the season when flickers of his best form began to shine through. A first goal was scored on the final game of the regular season, at Bristol Rovers, and Nlundulu started the play-off second leg at Barnsley.

Jaidi hopes his former charge can stay out of the treatment room this season and then get the opportunity to showcase his natural skills on a regular basis. Known in the dressing room as 'The Beast' in his time at Wanderers, the former World Cup star has a good feeling that Nlundulu can also wreak havoc in League One.

“It is very important for Dan that he stays fit and what happened last season maybe reminded of him of what he went through with Southampton because he got a couple of injuries and they slowed his progression,” he said.

“I think one thing he has to work on is controlling those moments of emotion, both joy and disappointment, because when he is fit, I think he can be a beast of a player.

“He is very strong, he can play a physical game, but he has also a very technical side, he has vision and can bring other players into play. He can play with his back to goal but he can also play the other way at speed.

“We were working hard with him on getting forward and making intelligent runs in the red zones, the areas of the pitch where he can score goals, and I think he showed a lot of progress in that area.

“Now he has joined Bolton permanently he has an opportunity to learn and improve further to help the team but it is so important that he can stay fit and play on a regular basis.”

Though Nlundulu’s time on the pitch in the later months of last season was somewhat restricted, he had shown enough on the training ground to convince Evatt that a permanent deal was worth pursuing.

The Bolton boss even made comparisons to Brentford and England striker Ivan Toney’s journey around several loan clubs in his career, and Jaidi believes at 24 years old Nlundulu is still very capable of returning to the top level.

“Dan made it to the first team level at Southampton in the good times and I think he was little unlucky not to have played more football,” he said.

“There was a lot of competition and maybe some pressure on the coach at the time.

“But I understand the comparison. I agree, he has developed and matured as a loan player in different environments, and he is unpredictable. He can score different types of goals.

“He can contribute assists, come deeper to support and progress the ball, and I think he can be dangerous in the penalty box too. That is a modern type of forward player.

“He needs now consistency in performance and to add more maturity to his game.”

Jaidi helped Cercle Brugge to second place in the Belgian Jupiter League last season and is now preparing for European competition this year.

He still keeps a close eye on events at Bolton, however, and now has a special reason to make a trip to the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

“I do miss the place and I need to come back over and refresh a few of my memories there,” he said. “I loved being at Bolton, the people, the club, and I would be very happy to return soon and see Dan playing well.

“Things are going well over here. The standard of the Belgian league has improved because there is a lot more investment in the clubs and the quality of players has improved in recent years. It is a competitive league.

“I am happy to see Bolton doing well. I hope they find success this season.”