Report: Everton wonderkid Thierry Small wanted by multiple top clubs in Europe
Young Everton left-back Thierry Small is attracting attention from a host of top clubs in European football, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper claims that Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Wolfsburg, Valencia, Monaco and Benfica are all keeping close tabs on the 16-year-old, who is “regarded by many as the best left-back in the country of his age” and “has drawn comparisons with Bayern Munich‘s Alphonso Davies”.
Small has played once for Everton’s Under-23s in Premier League 2 this season when he came off the bench in a 0-0 draw against Tottenham’s Under-23s last month.
He’s been used more regularly in Paul Tait’s Under-18s this season, with the former West Brom youngster playing seven times in the Under-18s Premier League and scoring two goals – both of which coming in a 3-2 win over Burnley’s youngsters.
Small, who’s uncle Bryan played for Aston Villa in the 1990s, has recently featured in BBC Sport’s Wonderkids series. There’s a video clip on the BBC Sport website which showcase Small’s incredibly close control of the ball.
Everton clearly know how good the teenager can be too.
The Daily Mail adds that amid interest from the likes of Bayern, Arsenal and Juve, the Toffees have offered the left-back a new three-year contract.
However, it seems that the Blues will have to give Small some assurances about future first-team football because it is understood he wants to make the jump up to the senior side and will make a decision on his future based on that.
Lucas Digne has been in tremendous form for Everton this season with the Frenchman proving to be one of the best left-backs in the Premier League.
According to stats by WyScout, only two players in Europe’s top-five leagues average more crosses from the left-flank than Digne does per 90 minutes [6.25].
He also leads the way in the Premier League for crosses per 90 minutes [6.25] and only four players have a better accuracy than him in England’s top-flight [39.13%].
Digne is one of Everton’s most important players so we cannot see Small displacing him any time soon but Carlo Ancelotti and Marcel Brands need to give the youngster some sort of promise that he’ll be on the first-team radar in the near future.
In other Everton news, Kevin Campbell has called on Alex Iwobi to find more consistency in his game.