England youth international Chris Long has signed his first professional contract with Everton.
The 18-year-old forward has agreed a two-year deal which will keep him at Goodison Park until the summer of 2015.
A boyhood Blues supporter, Long has been with Everton since he was six years old and has graduated through the Club’s famed academy system.
The Huyton-born youngster has represented his country at Under-16, Under-17 and Under-18s level and was part of the England squad for the Under-20 World Cup that took place in Turkey this summer.
His call up to Peter Taylor’s Young Lions group came about following a sterling 2012/13 season for Everton’s youth teams.
Long netted regularly for Kevin Sheedy’s Under-18s team including a brace against Norwich City at Goodison Park in the FA Youth Cup quarter-final.
He forced his way into Alan Stubbs Under-21s side later in the season and was part of their end-of-season play-off campaign which ended with a 3-2 semi-final defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane – a game in which he scored a superb lobbed goal.
Having scored at every youth level, Long says it is now his ambition to repeat this for the Club’s senior side.
“I’ve had to sacrifice a lot of things but it has been worth it to get the chance to play for Everton Football Club, “ Long told evertontv.
“I’ve got a lot of people to thank get for getting this far. The whole of the Everton academy have been so good to me. Hopefully I can make them proud.
“Hopefully I can get recognised by the manager and make my debut one day – that’s all I want to do.
“It would be the best thing ever [to play for the first team at Goodison Park]. If I could score a goal at the Gwladys Street, I would be ecstatic. It would be unbelievable.”