Report: Aston Villa keep tabs on Everton defender who supported them during his early days
Aston Villa are keeping tabs on young Everton left-back Thierry Small, according to The Liverpool Echo.
Small has recently gone AWOL by not showing up for pre-season training even though the club have not given him permission to train alone.
The 16-year-old has a pro contract offer on the table from the Toffees which he can sign once he turns 17 on August 1, but there’s been a breakdown in communication with him and the club.
This would make the task of convincing him all the more difficult, and Villa could be a lucrative destination as it’s the club he supported while growing up.
On his way out?
Small’s had this offer on the table for a while now and he’s come no closer to signing it.
The interest in his services only seems to be heating up as not only Aston Villa, but the likes of Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Manchester United are all circling around the player.
Bayern even looked into getting an exemption from FIFA to sign the player as he’s still only 16 and at an overseas club with the Brexit rules unlikely to favour the Germans.
Looking at the calibre of clubs interested in Small and his lackadaisical attitude towards us, it’s unlikely that he signs a pro deal at Goodison Park.
While we would be open to the idea of having one of our brightest academy prospects knocking on the first-team door in the future, he seems to be having other intentions in mind.
If the club are that desperate to keep him then Rafa Benitez needs to step in and explain to him what they envisage for him in the future, and why turning down the likes of Bayern and Man United would be beneficial for his career at this stage.
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