Liverpool have announced that academy midfielder Joe Upton has signed his first professional contract with the club.
The teenager has captained Simon Wiles’ under-18 side on numerous occasions this season, along with starting all but one of the Reds’ matches in the UEFA Youth League, and he’s now been rewarded by the club in the form of a new deal.
LFC confirmed on their official website on Tuesday lunchtime that the 18-year-old has signed his first pro contract at Anfield, having first joined the academy when he was six.
‘Proud’ Upton reflects on signing professional contract at Liverpool
As he reflected proudly on this milestone moment in his fledgling career, Upton beamed: “It’s an amazing feeling, I’m so proud to sign for my boyhood club. Nearly 13 years at the club now. It’s a massive achievement for me and my family, and I’m so proud of everything.
“The biggest thing is just to get into the U21s at the minute and then hopefully kick on next season, have a really good season and just enjoy my football.”
The 18-year-old has been capped by England at underage level and is described by the official LFC website as having ‘a superb work ethic’ in his role as a defensive midfielder to ‘break up danger and start the play with his passing’.
What’s next for Upton after signing first professional contract?
Upton has swiftly followed under-18s teammate Finn Inglethorpe in signing his first professional contract, with the Anfield hierarchy continuing to put their faith in academy starlets who could hopefully go on to become first-team stalwarts in L4.
The youngster has yet to play at under-21 level, so a competitive senior debut is unlikely to be imminent, but if he can continue to progress nicely in his development, there’s a chance that he could travel with the first-team squad for their pre-season tour to the United States in the summer.
The age profile of Liverpool’s midfield (Ryan Gravenberch 23, Alexis Mac Allister 27, Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai both 25) would suggest that a major rebuild won’t be needed as a matter of urgency, but Upton could be the long-term successor to Wataru Endo as a natural number 6.
Congratulations to him on turning professional, and we’re hugely excited to see how he develops over the coming months and years as he hopefully embarks on the path towards becoming another Scouser in the first team!
