After over two decades at the very top of the management game, after spells in charge of Real Madrid, AC Milan, Napoli, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, it’s probably safe to assume that Carlo Ancelotti had developed quite the nose for talent.
And when the then-Everton boss opted to hand Thierry Small his first-team bow in early 2021 – making the 16-year-old the youngest debutant in the club’s entire history along the way – it was a decision made with not only on the teenager’s vast potential in mind, but also his Goodison Park future.
Evrton were desperate to keep him. And a historic debut, they felt, was a means of reminding Small just how highly he was regarded on Gwadlys Street.
“Thierry did well,” Ancelotti told The Guardian. “He is really, really young. He is like a kid, he is only 16 years old. But he has quality and physicality to play with the first team.
“He is one of our best players in the academy.”
Is Southampton’s Thierry Small heading to Rangers?
If Everton had hoped that handing Small a place in the Toffees’ history books would have been enough to convince him to stay put – proof of a route into the first-team picture – then they would have been even more disappointed to see the Finch Farm fledging turn down an ‘unbelievable’ offer in order to join Southampton instead just eight months later down the line.
This summer will see Small celebrate his two year anniversary at the Saints. Then again, the word ‘celebrate’ may be the wrong one here. He’s made as many first-team appearances for Southampton (one) as he did at Everton, with reports now suggesting that that the England U18 international could soon be following in the footsteps of fellow left-back Calvin Bassey; moving north of the border in search of the sort of opportunities that appear to be frustratingly out of reach the other side of Hadrian’s Wall.
Rangers, reports say, are in contact with Southampton regarding a potential summer deal for a player who set the Saints back a fee in the £5 million bracket. It’s a deal that makes a lot of sense, for a number of different reasons.
Borna Barisic, Rangers’ number one left-back since 2018, will turn 31 in November. He is also due to become a free-agent in 2024. If Rangers are to avoid a repeat of this summer – so many key players leaving on frees– then now feels like the right time to, if not plan for life Barisic, then perhaps cut ties entirely. Thus avoid letting another long-serving star depart for nothing.
A Borna Barisic replacement?
Small, meanwhile, feels like the sort of signing Rangers need to be making more consistently if they are to close the gap at the top of the table. Young, hungry, brimming with re-sale potential and – like Bassey before him – capable of making great strides with regular first-team football.
Did we mention that Small, impressing on loan at St Mirren, would also arrive at Rangers with a proven track record on Scottish soil?
“The pace, the power, how he gets forward… he’s a smashing lad,” Small’s former Everton U23s coach David Unsworth once told the Liverpool Echo.
“I love working with him, he’s a great boy. He’s very coachable, very approachable, honest and has all the attributes of what I like to see.”
Following one Southampton appearance in two years, Small’s decision to swap Merseyside for the coast has not worked out as he might have planned. Another change of scenery – this time at Rangers – could see Small make up for those two arguably lost years.
