'A new contract and training here in Austria - it's been a brilliant week'
Owen Beck is eager to impress at Liverpool’s pre-season training camp after signing a new contract with the club.
The teenage left-back put pen to paper on a new long-term deal prior to flying out to Austria as part of a 34-man squad that includes first-team stars and Academy hopefuls.
Beck – an 18-year-old who impressed during his first season with the Reds’ U23s last term – reflected on a memorable week and revealed he is benefiting from advice from the likes of James Milner during an interview with Liverpoolfc.com after Wednesday morning’s session in the state of Salzburg.
Read on for our chat with the Wales youth international…
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Owen, you signed a new, long-term contract a few days ago and now you’re at the first team’s pre-season training camp here in Austria. It hasn’t been a bad week for you, has it?
No, it’s been brilliant. I’m happy to sign a long-term contract here and even though it’s a long-term one I’m still going to keep pushing as hard as I can to earn the next one and keep doing all I can to progress my career.
Was it an easy decision to sign a new deal?
It was easy. I’m happy to sign long term especially [because] I know the club have got interest in me and I’m happy to sign. I’ll just keep working hard now.
What do you want to achieve over the course of your new contract?
I want to just do everything I can to get into the first team, really. Just keep impressing every chance I get and working hard and keep doing all I can.
You enjoyed a strong first season with the U23s last term and you got your first call-up to the Wales U21s squad too, so what are your aims for 2021-22?
If I’m playing U23s, just keep going for goals, assists, clean sheets [and] keep doing everything I can to help the team. For Wales, I’m just hoping to get called up again to the U21s and keep pushing towards the first team.
How much are you enjoying being here at the training camp in Austria?
I’m enjoying it a lot. With all the boys, it’s nice to meet up – especially in a different country and get away. Training is tough because it’s pre-season, you need to get work into the legs and stuff, but overall we’ve had a good first couple of days and I can’t wait to keep going.
Do you see it as a massive opportunity to learn plenty off the senior players who are here, and the first-team coaching staff too?
Yeah, definitely. I feel like every day we train is a chance to impress the coaches and with the players, it’s always going to be tough with the amount of talent that everyone has over here but playing with them is also a strength as well, so it’s been good so far.
Are there any senior players in particular who you’ve had words of advice from?
The likes of Milner and the leaders in the team: they help you out when you’re on their side, they talk to you and let you know. And if you do something wrong they won’t get on to you, they’ll just tell you politely and it does give you a massive boost of confidence.
Finally, is there anyone in the squad you’re particularly looking at in terms of learning from? There’s so much experience in the group here…
Yeah, definitely. The likes of Virgil van Dijk and James Milner, and then obviously Kostas Tsimikas – he plays in my position so I’ll keep watching what he’s doing, and what he’s doing that can improve my game.