Liverpool’s 22 year old right back Martin Kelly has today announced he has signed a new long term deal with the club he has supported since a boy.
Kelly hasn’t featured for Liverpool since September, after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament against Manchester United, and is expected to be out for another 6 weeks, but the club have shown their faith in the young defender by securing a new long term deal.
Kelly is seen by many as England’s long term replacement to the right back position currently occupied by his Liverpool teammate Glen Johnson, and has already featured for England, coming on for the last 5minutes against Norway in May 2012.
England manager Roy Hodgson has already given a strong indication that he sees Kelly as part of the future England setup, including him in his squad for Euro 2012 ahead of former England captain Rio Ferdinand and Manchester City right back Micah Richards. Kelly also offers good versatility across the defensive positions, as a natural centre back that has played many of his games for Liverpool at right back.
England now have a number of options to choose from for the right back position, with Kyle Walker, Micah Richards and Phil Jones all likely to be involved in future England squads. It was important for Liverpool to secure Kelly’s long term future, with Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre telling the Guardian ‘’He was very unfortunate to get his injury but he has worked very hard with the physios and the medical team and hopefully we'll see him back soon.
Signing him up for the long term is very important for us’’. It is an exciting time for Liverpool supporters, with so many young British players that now make up the core of their team.
Source: DSG
