Everton hope to tie Thierry Small down to a first professional contract in the summer.
The left-back became the club's youngest ever player on Sunday night when, at 16 years at 176 days, he came off the bench to face Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup.
Small was handed a place on the bench for the FA Cup fourth round tie because of the absence of Lucas Digne and Niels Nkounkou and would replace James Rodriguez with five minutes of normal time remaining.
Carlo Ancelotti, at the same time, also handed a first-team debut to highly-rated midfielder Tyler Onyango, 17, who signed pro terms with the club last July.
And now Small is one of the next up and coming players at the Academy that Everton want to secure on a contract, with talks understood to be on-going.
But players cannot sign pro terms until they are 17 and Small's birthday is not until August.
Everton assistant boss Duncan Ferguson was thrilled to see Small and Onyango make their bow, saying: "It was a great moment for him [Small].
"To become the youngest player to play for Everton...what a fantastic thing.
*Who was your Everton MOTM? Take our poll here.
"It's brilliant for him. It is early days for the kid and he has a long way to go but the manager showed a lot of confidence in Tyler as well.
"We are delighted with them but there is a long way to go - this is just the start."
Small had missed Monday's under-23s mini derby with Liverpool because of a niggle but recovered to spend the rest of the week training under Ancelotti and the Everton first-team.
