When Southampton secured the signing of 17-year-old Thierry Small in 2021 it was viewed as a real coup for the club. Widely considered the best left-back in English youth football at the time, Small was keen to progress his career and turned down the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Bayern Munich to sign for Southampton having decided to leave Everton. When Small was handed his debut by Carlo Ancelotti in an FA Cup clash in 2018, he became Everton’s youngest post-war player at just 16 years, five months and 23 days. The full-back certainly did not leave the Toffees because of any percei…
