Liverpool full-back Neco Williams has signed a new five-year contract with the Premier League champions.
As reported by Goal last week, the 19-year-old is now considered a part of Jurgen Klopp’s squad and has been rewarded after a breakthrough year that saw him make his senior debut and first top-flight appearance.
“It feels amazing,” he told the club’s website. “At the minute for me, I think there is no better place to learn and to become a better player than being here and working with the lads. I think we’ve got some of the best players in the world and we’re one of the best teams in the world.”
Liverpool boss Klopp said: “Neco, from the first day he trained with us, he trained like a machine. Every day he became better and better and better and I thought, ‘OK, what’s that?!’
"There is so much positivity about this kid that I am really happy we have him here. That’s very important for me because he is our boy and it is the perfect place for him in the moment because we don’t rush his career.
“He has a lot of things that we really like, so I am really, really happy that he signed this contract.”
Williams made his senior debut in the 5-5 Carabao Cup draw against Arsenal in October and was part of the squad that won the Club World Cup against Flamengo in Qatar in December, though he didn’t make an appearance.
The Wales youth international then played in all four of the Reds’ matches in the FA Cup at the start of the year before eventually making his Premier League bow when the top-flight resumed in June, making six appearances as Liverpool ended their 30-year wait for the title.
He is the latest Reds youngster to sign fresh terms in recent weeks after Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott, with the latter signing his first professional deal on Merseyside last month.
After committing his future to the club Williams says he is now focused on improving his game and learning from the club’s first-choice full backs, Trent Alexander-Arnold, himself a graduate from the Liverpool academy, and Andy Robertson.
“For me personally, especially learning off Trent and Robbo every day, getting their advice, seeing what they say, it’s only going to make me a better player and I feel it,” he added.
“I take it day by day and I am maturing in my game, I am developing as a player and, like I said, I don’t think there is a better place for me to work and keep going at it than here.
“Last season was my breakout season, but I think the more games I play now, the more I train, I feel I am becoming a better player.
“I am learning massively – there is no better place to be at the moment.”