England's European U17 Championship-winning captain Ryan Ledson says he is overjoyed after signing his first professional contract with Everton.
The all-action midfielder, who skippered England to victory at this summer's finals in Malta, has been at the Goodison Park club since he was five years old, and marked his 17th birthday by putting pen to paper.
Ledson's new deal will run until 2017, and comes as a reward for last season's breakthrough campaign, where he became a stalwart in the club's Under-21 side and was selected for first-team bench duty on the trip to Southampton in April.
"I’m delighted," Ledson told evertontv. "I’ve been here since I was a young kid and this is what you strive towards. The day has finally come, so I’m made up.
Ryan Ledson leads the squad around the pitch at Wembley
"For me, it's been 12 years of hard work at Everton to get to this day, but there is no better place to be and I’m absolutely over the moon.
"Now I just want to keep playing well for the Under-21s and then hopefully an opportunity will come around again with the first team in the future."
Ledson is one of a host of young England stars on Everton's books, including U17s team-mate Jonjoe Kenny, U21s pair Ty Browning and Luke Garbutt and U19s defender Brendan Galloway, who signed this summer from MK Dons.
