So often in football, it is easy to think that the grass is always greener upon leaving, and yet with many Everton players that is very rarely ever the case.
Ask Ross Barkley, who left his boyhood club in acrimonious circumstances in 2018, and since has wasted away years of his career before finding his feet again more recently with Luton Town.
Or Jack Rodwell, perhaps, whose move to Manchester City did not quite prove to be as profitable as he would have hoped despite first starring at Goodison Park.
It can be a risky move to depart the Toffees until you’re truly ready for that next step, yet it is a mistake so many seem desperate to make.
One such name was Thierry Small, who at the time was lambasted for the acrimonious manner in which he departed. However, as he notes, upon reflection it was a move that made sense at the time.
What Thierry Small has said about Everton
Speaking exclusively to London News Online, the former Everton full-back, who actually broke Jose Baxter’s record as the club’s youngest-ever appearance-maker, expressed his regret with how he went about leaving Everton.
After all, handing him an appearance in the senior side at such a young age, just 16 years and 176 days, should have marked a huge vote of confidence.
However, something about Southampton just appealed to him, and he left in 2021. His career has not quite panned out as hoped either, with the 19-year-old now playing for Charlton Athletic.
He spoke about his Everton exit: ‘It was unbelievable for me and my family. When I moved to Everton I was in digs. I made a lot of sacrifices to be there. I left home at an early age.
‘So when I was on the pitch it was like: ‘We have achieved something really great – we beat the statistics (for the amount of academy players who fall by the wayside)’. It was beautiful to experience.
‘I was grateful to be playing football and getting your little scholar wages. I was just made up. Everything happened so quickly – but I wouldn’t have had it any way differently.
‘The way Everton was, I wish I could’ve left on better terms,’ noted Small. ‘The way it came out wasn’t completely true – there was a lot of false speculation about the move to Southampton.
‘Going there was just a family decision to better my career. You have got to take risks – sometimes they pay off and sometimes they don’t, it’s just part of life.’
Everton’s academy has fallen to the wayside
‘If there was an 18-year-old here who I thought was good enough to play in the first team, he would be playing. There is no one I have seen so far who is ready to jump in there.’
That was the damning assessment Sean Dyche gave earlier this month of his Everton academy, an institution once famed for the production of Wayne Rooney, Francis Jeffers, Ross Barkley and Leon Osman.
Now, however, it has arguably never looked so weak, with the club hardly an attractive proposition for a young footballer seeking an easy path into the senior game.
The Toffees are shrouded in uncertainty, and with financial troubles only worsening, a key academy graduate could save the club millions.
Unfortunately, that is simply not available, proving just how far this once-famed academy has fallen.