Young Norwich City prospect Saxon Earley has signed a new deal with the club until 2023.

Earley is one of the longest-serving players in the Canaries academy, having joined as an under-nine player.

The midfielder, who can also play as a full-back, only signed his first professional deal last summer but has been rewarded for consistent performances with Alan Neilson's U23 side this season.

A local player, Earley has forged a pathway through City's academy including becoming U18s captain during his time in that age group.

Despite describing himself as a 'box to box midfielder' in a previous interview, his success has arrived predominantly at left-back this season. Earley's combative nature has seen him acclimatise well to his new position.

Neilson's side have won six of their last eight games and sit second in the Premier League Two Division Two.

Speaking to the club's official channels after penning his new deal, Earley reiterated his excitement at continuing his development with the Canaries.

“I’ve been here a long time, so I’m very pleased because it’s my boyhood club,” he said. “I’m pleased that the hard work has paid off.

“The club’s been great. I’ll just keep working hard and trying to get to the next level. Breaking into first-team football somewhere would be my main priority at the moment and seeing where it goes from there.”

That conversion from a midfielder to a full-back wasn't one that Earley was expecting to make but has attempted to take in his stride.

Despite a testing opening period in that position, he feels he is finding a decent rhythm at left-back.

“It was a bit of a shock because we had two left-backs at the start of the season and all of a sudden they were both out,” he said. “The manager came to me and asked how I felt about it and I wanted to give it a go.

“It took me a few matches to get into, but I quite enjoyed it after a while. Playing left-back became second nature and I did alright.

“I had a few hard times with the U18s with injuries so I didn’t feel like I gave my full potential, but with the U23s I’ve been given the opportunities and done the best I can. Hopefully I can keep giving that.

“I felt quite comfortable because a lot of the lads I stepped up with I’ve been with for a long while, so if one of us was having a bad game or spell, we could gather round each other, which made it a lot easier to step into.

“We’ve got a really good mix of players. We do fall out sometimes, everyone does, but we’ve got leaders, attackers and defenders, quite a close-knit unit and you can see that off the pitch as well. Outside of football, we meet up and that’s helped our results this season.”

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