Port Vale Football Club is delighted to confirm that teenage star Thierry Small has joined the club on a season long loan.
The 17-year-old joined the Saints on a three-year deal in August 2021 from Everton for an undisclosed fee amid interest from sides such as Manchester United.
Small, who is considered one of the most promising young full-backs in the country, also has experience playing as both a centre-half and left winger.
The Solihull born defender began his youth career with West Brom before moving to Everton aged 11.
Whilst at the Toffees’ he continued to develop and became a mainstay in their Under-23 side during the 2020/21 season, netting his first goal for the club in a 2-1 win against West Ham.
He became a part of Everton’s history books in January 2021, when he became the clubs youngest ever player, making his first-team debut in their FA Cup victory against Sheffield Wednesday, aged just 16 years and 176 days old.
Small, has become a part of the Saints’ first team making two appearances for the club across the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, and has also featured for his country, earning a call-up to the England Under-19’s squad.
Southampton’s number 16 arrives at Vale Park with 14 goal involvements and was nominated for the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award in November of last year.
Speaking about the addition of Small, Director of Football Dave Flitcroft said: “Thierry is someone who plays with adventure, he’s a player who has a real no fear approach to attacking the last third of the pitch.
“When you play for a top club like Southampton, you must be well versed in attacking ability and desire, and that’s what Thierry brings to us.
“We look at environments to recruit from and Southampton’s environment for a long period now has produced some outstanding players, Champions League quality players, and when you go and get players from that environment, they’re always humble, respectful, and top people alongside being top class players.
“We believe we’ve recruited just that in Thierry.
“We can only thank Danny Butterfield and Southampton for making this deal work, we delivered a presentation to them about our club, our playing style, the manager and the environment that we have created, and they were blown away by it.
“I think that they see us as a football home for Thierry and we have to make sure that he is looked after in all aspects of his game as well as a person, and help us form another good relationship with an outstanding football club.”
Welcome to Port Vale, Thierry!
This is subject to EFL and FA clearance.