Morgan Feeney has become the latest youngster to pledge his long-term future to Everton.
The promising defender finalised terms on a new contract with the Blues on Saturday which will keep him with the club until the end of June 2020.
Feeney was part of David Unsworth’s under-23 side which lifted the Premier League 2 title last season and has since graduated to the first-team ranks.
A competitive debut as a substitute in Everton’s Europa League defeat to Atalanta was followed by a start in the win over Apollon Limassol earlier this month.
And the 18-year-old, a Goodison Park season ticket holder, admits that he is relishing the chance to continue his career with his boyhood club.
He said: “It is a proud moment for me.
“I’ve grown up as an Evertonian and still am an Evertonian so it’s amazing to be a part of it and what the club wants to do going forward.
“It’s an exciting time to be a player and a fan.
“It’s been a crazy couple of months and weeks for me, but it has all fallen nicely into place and I am on cloud nine at the minute and everything is working out well.
“I am learning a lot every day working with ‘Unsy’ or with the first team.
“I am picking up things and trying to take it into my own game so I feel as if I am playing better than when I signed my original contract.
“I would love to play in the first team as regularly as possible, push on and get a few more games under my belt and stay here for many years.”
Feeney becmes the fourth player this week to pledge his future to Everton, following Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jonjoe Kenny and Mason Holgate.
Defenders Kenny and Holgate signed with the club until 2022 on Thursday while striker Calvert-Lewin’s future is safeguarded for an extra 12 months.