Calum Chambers could reel off the evidence of progress if it suited him. He could point to 21 Premier League appearances this season, his first as a senior regular, as confirmation this has been a breakthrough campaign, or to glowing praise from Mauricio Pochettino and Roy Hodgson, and even to the captain's armband he sports for England's Under-19s. The teenager might also mention he has moved away from the family home in Petersfield, or that he has upgraded his wheels, from Volkswagen Polo to Audi. But that would not really be his style.

Instead, arguably the most visible sign of elevation stems from boot-boy duties. Not long ago the right-back would trudge back into Southampton's Marchwood training complex to be confronted by the ominous row of first-team players' studs lined up outside the dressing-room. He would search out Rickie Lambert's mud-caked boots before sidling off to scrub, brush and pick them clean, a painstaking rite of passage with which some elite clubs have long since dispensed. "You're allocated a senior player as an Under-18, someone who can mentor you and offer advice," says Chambers. "I was Rickie's boot-boy for two years. Now I have my own, a midfielder called Charlie Higgins. He's been really good, does a decent job. But the whole thing is about the youngsters getting to know the players better."

Nothing denotes senior status quite as markedly as life as a mentor but Chambers, at 19, is starting to feel established. The defender is the latest jaw-dropping talent to trundle off the Southampton conveyor belt. Where once the talk was all of Theo Walcott, Gareth Bale and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, players sold out of necessity, and more latterly of Adam Lallana, now this club thrives around a core group who have grown up together. There was James Ward-Prowse and, last season, Luke Shaw. This year Chambers has stepped up. This group have been under the wing of the Saints academy since they were seven, their progress nurtured, monitored and accelerated at a club used to developing its own. In the city they call it "The Southampton Way".

That junior team once wiped the floor with all-comers. "I was there with Luke, James, Harrison [Reed], Sam McQueen, and we went two years unbeaten," says Chambers. "The first game we lost after that run was devastating, the first match of the season when we were Under-14s, I think. Yes, Watford at home ... Everything about this club is geared towards bringing players up and keeping them grounded, educating them well. The philosophy and coaching was the same even when Southampton were in League One. It's just the equipment, facilities and sports science [department] that have been upgraded since those days, but standards have always been high. If you see someone thinking they are bigger than they are, then straight away everyone says: 'Stop, you have to keep your feet on the ground, you haven't made it yet.' The players self-police. The staff do it as well."

It helps that those coming through progress together, on and off the pitch. Chambers initially trained twice a week as a young boy but from Under-14 level attended the club's academy on day-release from school once a week. Lessons were conducted at Marchwood and by the time he was studying for his GCSEs, Chambers would spend Monday at school and the rest of the week at the academy, training in the mornings and under private tutelage every afternoon. His reward was nine GCSEs and a grounding in life at a professional football club. "It gives you a taste for it. We'd play Under-18 games and the senior players would come and watch, and you'd want to run 10 times harder. We'd all talk about how amazing it would be to progress into the first-team together." That dream has been realised.

This year has been about positive change. Off the pitch he moved into a flat, shared with the young midfielder Reed, across the way from the Marchwood complex currently under development. Theirs is student living on professional footballer wages, all pasta slop and Reed's speciality spaghetti bolognese, even if their loyalty to the grounded Southampton way has dissuaded them from the extravagant purchase of a dishwasher. The plates tend to pile up, the flatmates resorting to taking pot-shots at a dart board to allocate duties. "The first person to hit the bullseye avoids doing the dishes," says Chambers. The puncture marks in the wall around the board tell their own story.

Reed, like McQueen, is waiting to make his own mark, the striker Sam Gallagher having already served notice of his startling talent this term, with Hodgson a regular at St Mary's. The England manager has been impressed by Chambers' impact, the player having pushed to convert himself from central midfielder to right-back and backed by his manager, Pochettino. He is an elegant player, deceptively quick and physically strong, but also composed in possession.

"I thought it would help my career to take everything I'd learned in midfield – vision, first touch – and take it to right-back," he adds. "It would help kick me on further, and the coaches supported me to adapt. As for this year, I can't thank the manager enough for putting his faith in me and giving me the opportunity at the start of the season. I've seen players consistently come through the academy and into the first-team, and it has always served as an inspiration. It gives you the hope you can emulate them.

"Everything about this club offers a smooth transition from youth team to seniors, and the manager has maintained that. He had a reputation for bringing kids through and he's kept that. That first day this season, at West Bromwich Albion [when Chambers made his Premier League debut], he just told me to relax, reminded me there's no pressure. I was up against Shane Long, a difficult start but a good experience. You learn. When you see the number of players we have here around the national set-up, across the age groups, you realise it's the perfect place to be."