The 15-year-old Illawarra junior will move to England on January 1 to take up a spot with the Premier League giants Academy. Ryan has penned a three-year deal with the club after he was spotted while on tour in the UK in July. 

“It is amazing. It is the best feeling in my life,” the young defender said.

“I have worked so hard for it and I haven’t stopped for years.

“I went over there not expecting it to happen but I had hopes of it happening. It was my goal for something like this to happen. Not to get picked up by Liverpool but to be at least seen by a massive club.

“To be signed by Liverpool FC, who in history wise is one of the biggest teams in the world, it is an amazing feeling.”

It’s a huge move for Ryan, who started his playing career with Thirroul before moving into Football South Coast’s SAP program, or Project 22 as it was known at the time.

He then moved to Sydney for stints at the Skillaroos and Football NSW Institute.

It was on a tour with the Institute team to the Manchester United Premier Cup 2015 World Finals where the Joeys representative was spotted. A super showing at the tournament, which included matches against youth teams from Real Madrid and Manchester United, caught the eye of several scouts.

He accepted a trial with the Merseyside club and was signed by the 18-time English champions shortly after.

“Every time I talk about it to someone, I get shivers all over me,” Ryan said.

“Every time I walked into that Academy I thought to myself, Jamie Carragher has been through here and Steven Gerrard has been through here. All the greats who have played for Liverpool.

“I think to myself, if they made it, why can’t I? That’s what motivates me even more, knowing they’ve been in the same position.”