Liverpool have completed a deal for former Ajax youngster, Ki-Jana Hoever, who has signed a new long-term contract with the Reds in what is the 17-year-old defender’s first professional contract of his career.
Hoever, who joined the reigning Champions League title holders from Ajax in August 2018, after Liverpool paid a compensation fee to get the teenager who was only allowed to arrive at Anfield a month later after obtaining international clearance for the move.
After signing the new deal at Liverpool, Hoever stated his delight at putting pen to paper on a professional contract at the club, adding that he would still keep himself grounded in the hope of getting some playing time with the club in the coming season.
“I’m really happy to have signed here,” Hoever said on the Liverpool website. “I need to be realistic. I hope to make some [playing time] in the first team this year, of course, but I know that I will probably play more games for the U23s.”
Hoever went on to say: “I will just train hard with the first team, show them what I can do and if there is a chance, I will be ready. That’s what I am hoping for. I still need to learn a lot of things. I am still 17, so I just need to keep doing what I am doing to get better at the things that can be better.”
The teenage defender added: “It’s a lot of trust from the club to let me sign this new contract. I will try to do them proud and show what I can do for this club – and I hope these are not the last few years I play here.”
"I will just train hard with the first team, show them what I can do and if there is a chance, I will be ready."
Ki-Jana Hoever on looking to the future, after signing a new long-term contract with us ?
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 31, 2019
Hoever has figured in all six of Liverpool’s pre-season friendlies so far this summer and has also been named in the starting line-up for the team which will face Ligue 1 giants Olympique Lyon in the Reds’ final preparatory game before coming up against Manchester City on Sunday in the Community Shield.
The defender made his senior breakthrough last season when he appeared as a substitute during the FA Cup tie with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux, becoming the club’s third-youngest ever debutant at the age of just 16 years and 354 days as a result.
Will Hoever get more playing time at Liverpool having signed his first professional contract at Anfield? Share your views about it with us in the comment section.