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Picked up by Charlton Athletic following his departure earlier in 2024, Thierry Small is showing why he was so highly rated once upon a time

Young defender Thierry Small has always had potential, but up until recently a lack of game-time with Southampton and other clubs has hindered him significantly.

A bright young prospect in Everton’s academy, Small became the club’s youngest-ever player at 16 years and 176 days in February 2021 when he replaced James Rodríguez late on in a 3-0 FA Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday.

For Carlo Ancelotti to hand someone such an opportunity, the player has to have something about them.

In December 2020, Ancelotti told The Guardian: “Thierry did well. 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, so I was pleased to bring him to train with us. I think for what he is doing it was good for him, too.”

After years of frustration in his early career though, the 19-year-old is starting to show what Ancelotti saw in him and his career looks to be back on track, with a manager who knows all about him in Nathan Jones giving him a chance at Charlton Athletic.

Jones of course was briefly the manager of Southampton last season in the Premier League, and it was under his management that Small was sent to St. Mirren in the 2023 January transfer window.

Seeing Small released by Southampton though before the end of the most recent January window, Jones decided to snap up the teenager for extra competition at left wing-back, and he had a perfect start to life in London by firing in a debut goal against Bolton Wanderers last month.