Everton starlet to turn down professional deal
According to reports today Everton youngster Thierry Small is prepared to turn down a professional contract at Goodison Park in order to get first-team football now.
The teenager has been making waves in the Everton academy and is a very highly rated, dynamic young left-back capable of playing in a more advanced position too.
His profile was raised when he was featured recently in a BBC Sport section focusing on the best and brightest young talents at various Premier League clubs.
Of course the immediate caveat is that this is again a speculative story in the national press, which means it may or may not have any substance to it.
But at any rate the piece in the Express claims that Small isn’t convinced Everton is the best place for him to continue his development and he will seek the chance to start playing football at other clubs. Those being mentioned include Championship side Brentford and presumably a much more unlikely destination; Old Trafford.
Small has had a brief appearance in a Toffees shirt when he came on in an FA Cup tie against Sheffield Wednesday and that is the only time Blues fans have seen him in action for the first-team.
As the Express point out though Small faces a battle to force his way into the Everton team with both Lucas Digne and Niels Nkounkou in front of him in the queue for a starting place on the left.
It is a little ironic that while the Toffees have several positions where there is a distinct lack of quality and depth, (notably the right flank), they are well stocked in the one area of the team where the club’s brightest young talent plays!
So this means that the teenager has faced a lot of competition for a place in Carlo Ancelotti’s squad going forward.
I have a wider concern that too often the Blues don’t effectively bring through enough of the talent that they seem to have at youth level and that too many of those players who do, aren’t able to make it in the first-team and fulfill their potential or move on to other clubs. Is Small going to be the latest example of this trend?
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This does happen at all clubs and there is always a large wastage in youth football as even the most talented players at the age of 14,15 or 16 often don’t manage to kick on and mature to become the players they might or should have been.
This might still be the case with Small. On the other hand he could become one of the best players around with comparisons being made to Bayern Munich’s dynamic star Alphonso Davies.
There is also a feeling that perhaps Ancelotti isn’t always prepared to give young players a chance and would rather stick with the more experienced players he knows and trusts.
This approach was reflected in the manager’s priorities in last summer’s transfer window. Ancelotti sought to bring in players with plenty of top-level experience rather than invest in young players as Marcel Brands tends to do. Although he did also bring in young defender Ben Godfrey who has been a great success.
Obviously, every successful team needs a combination of youth and experience and I hope the club can persuade Small to commit long-term to the Toffees as I think he could be a star. It would be a real blow if Small was to leave and Everton lose another young talent who then does go on to become an outstanding player.
That has happened before – most notably in Wayne Rooney’s case – and it would be very frustrating if something similar happened again, especially as the Blues now have a top-class manager, a developing team, a new stadium on the horizon and a chance of trophy success.