David Unsworth has commented on the exit of Thierry Small from Everton over the course of the summer.
The young left-back made the decision to leave rather than sign a contract with the club, joining Southampton on a three-year professional contract.
The 17-year-old had been offered terms by Everton having been with the academy setup for five years after joining from West Bromwich Albion in 2016.
Small was handed his senior debut in January of this year by Carlo Ancelotti in the second half of Everton's FA Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday at Goodison Park.
However he could not be convinced to stay on Merseyside, and Unsworth has talked about his disappointment that the defender didn't stay with the club.
The under-23s manager told the Echo "In fairness to the club, we did everything we possibly could [to keep him].
"We made him an unbelievable offer, we didn't want him to leave. We never envisaged it coming.
"Up until he actually did leave, we fought really hard to keep him. But when a player doesn't want to be at your club, it's very difficult to try and keep him.
"He's got his way, and that's usually the case these days."
The club's U23s setup have been left short of out-and-out left backs thanks to the exit of Small and the loan departure of Niels Nkounkou over the summer.
Elijah Campbell and Joe Anderson, both natural centre-backs, have been playing in that position over the course of the season so far.
