Elijah Dixon-Bonner made his first Liverpool start on Sunday. The 21-year-old looked neat and tidy in midfield before switching to a left wing role later in the game.
After the match he took to Twitter, giving thanks to the club for helping him realise the dream of playing for his boyhood team.
“Dreams really do come true. Thank you LFC” the midfielder wrote.
Accompanying the tweet is a picture of a young Dixon-Bonner donning a full Liverpool kit alongside a shot of him playing at Anfield.
Despite hailing from Essex, the former Arsenal youth player has clearly dreamed of playing for The Reds for a long time.
Dixon-Bonner finally gets his chance
He could be forgiven for thinking that his day would never come. Younger teammates like Tyler Morton, Leighton Clarkson and Jake Cain have all been given game time ahead of him in recent years.
But this season has seen him training regularly with the first team. Jurgen Klopp spoke about his fine application in sessions after giving him some minutes in the Carabao Cup tie with Preston.
That was his second appearance for the first team. He came off the bench in the final minute of the FA Cup replay against Shrewsbury in 2020.
But Sunday represented a major leap forward for Dixon-Bonner. He performed well from the start in front of a full house at Anfield.
He could even have scored but for a fantastic save from the Shrewsbury ‘keeper in the second half. It was great to see him given a standing ovation as he was replaced by Roberto Firmino on 64 minutes.
If Dixon-Bonner can kick on and keep impressing Klopp in training, more minutes could come his way.
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