Everton midfielder Tom Davies signs new five-year deal at Goodison Park

Everton wonderkid Tom Davies has signed a new five-year deal and has committed his future to the club until the summer of 2022. The 18-year-old midfielder has established himself as an important part of Ronald Koeman's starting line-up over the last few months and has spoken of his delight at signing fresh terms with his boyhood club.

Davies made his debut in April last year and has since made 19 appearances for the Toffees. The wavy-haired England youth international is arguably the brightest starlet in an squad filled with talented youngsters such as Mason Holgate, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Ademola Lookman.

Davies signed a five-year deal with the Toffees last summer but the Goodison hierarchy were keen to reward him for his fine work this season, and the precocious teenager, inspired by former Blue wonderkids Wayne Rooney and Ross Barkley, is determined to keep progressing on Merseyside.

"It means everything to me to get a chance to be in the Everton first team and to try to stay there," Davies told the club's official website. "It's an unbelievable feeling. Everton has a long tradition of bringing young players through and the incentive has always been there for me to try to progress with the Club.

"I used to look at Mikel and aspire to be out there playing alongside my heroes and, obviously, Wayne Rooney and Ross Barkley who came through the Academy here, too, have been inspirational figures for me.

"Hopefully, young players in the Academy now can see how I have been able to progress and make my way to the Everton first team, just as Matty (Pennington), Callum (Connolly), Kieran (Dowell) and Jonjoe (Kenny) have also done, but we all know that the hard work doesn't stop because we want to part of taking the club to the next level as well.

"We've had some big results this season and we're fighting for a European place in the Premier League and we want to help get Everton to where the club needs to be and where the supporters want us to be.

"People like Unsie (David Unsworth) have been great in helping me and other players to develop our game and become Everton players and it's a privilege to be playing under this manager with everything he's done and achieved in the game. I'm learning more and improving every day and I'm delighted to have been given this opportunity by the club."

Everton manager Koeman has handed a number of youngsters opportunities to show what they're made of in the first-team this season and sees Davies as the starlet who has made the most progress under his guidance. The Dutchman also believes the news of a new deal for Davies should be used by the rest of the club's academy as a source of inspiration.

"It's a case of well done, Tom," Koeman said. "He is maybe the young player who has improved the most in the last few months. He went straight into the team performing at a high level and has kept his feet on the ground.

"We're really happy with his performances and, of course, proud. He's a young player and that's important for the rest of the Academy – to show you can make that next step like Tom did and, if that ends with a new contract, it's perfect."