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The manager looks forward to watching Williams develop.
Liverpool continue to quietly go about their summer business as the team begins pre-season training in Austria. Most recently, they’ve continued to take care of the depth at fullback, a hole that Klopp clearly felt needed filling, by signing 19-year-old academy star Neco Williams to a long term deal.
Williams impressed last season, and took advantage of the opportunities afforded to him when he served as cover for Trent Alexander-Arnold.
With Williams’ services secured for the foreseeable future, Jürgen Klopp explained what he found so exciting about the young Welshman.
“Neco from the first day he trained with us, he trained like a machine,” Klopp told the . “Every day he became better and better and better and I thought, ‘OK, what’s that?!’ Unfortunately then, in the moment he started playing for us, I saw it, he got a little physical knock, like it was always really intense all of the time. But then he had to play.
“The last game of the season against Newcastle is a really good example – first half, struggled slightly, [but] second half he was there.
“That’s exactly him in the moment and 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.”
Williams made 11 first team appearances last season. Now that he has received that experience, it’s likely he’ll earn even more next season, which is good for his growth, as well as the Alexander-Arnold’s legs.