Barely 13 months into a five-year deal, Harvey Elliott has extended his Liverpool stay further.
As the club prioritised retention of their biggest names last summer, Elliott was one of a slew of players who committed themselves for the long haul at Anfield as he joined Fabinho, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson in putting the pen to paper at the AXA Centre.
Given the high profile of the others around him, it was no surprise to see Elliott's deal going under the radar, somewhat. Since then, his status within the Liverpool squad itself has only grown.
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It's one of the key reasons why those in the corridors of power at Anfield have been emboldened to further recognise his development on Thursday afternoon. A new deal that keeps him at his boyhood club until 2027 will give him the spring for his step this campaign.
If Elliott feels he is 12 months behind in his development then it would be understandable. Having started three of the first four games for Jurgen Klopp last season - including Chelsea at home on a warm August Bank Holiday weekend - then the horrendous ankle injury suffered at Leeds in September of last year brought his swift progress to a sudden halt.
He would start just one more Premier League game that season, away at Southampton when Klopp made nine changes to the team that won the FA Cup just a few days earlier.
Of course, given the fledgling stage of his career and age of 19, there was no appetite within the Liverpool camp to rush Elliott back into games following that early-February comeback, particularly as the squad chased an unprecedented quadruple at the time.
And even with the undoubted low of that fracture dislocation at Elland Road 11 months ago, last term did still reserve plenty of highlights for the Premier League's youngest-ever player to reflect back on with pride.
There was the classy cameo off the bench in February's League Cup triumph over Chelsea before he dispatched a penalty in the shootout, which came just a couple of weeks after Elliott became the youngest player to start a Champions League game for the Reds.
It was a bold decision from Klopp to name Elliott in the side for the game at Inter on February 16, having not been named in the lineup since September, but it showed just how much faith he has in a player who broke Trent Alexander-Arnold's record on the night in the San Siro at the age of 18 years and 318 days.
Elliott's growing stature within the Reds' camp itself has also been underlined by his and the club's willingness to handle media duties in recent months. Liverpool, initially, preferred to keep the teenager away from the microphones, which was to be expected given his age in a time when every word is instantly beamed around the world and dissected carefully.
In recent months, though, those concerns have eased to reveal an eloquent, thoughtful and honest young player, who is happy to give his time to those requesting a few words. Elliott spoke candidly to the ECHO twice in May, while an interview with LFCTV after the recent friendly defeat to Red Bull Salzburg was also handled with maturity.
It's this maturation that has seen Liverpool move to tie down Elliott for the long term. In many ways, it is a reward for the ongoing improvements he is making to his game at the elite level and also for the coming-of-age off the field too among his colleagues.
At a time when Liverpool's midfield is stretched due to injuries and calls are growing for a signing to be made before the end of the transfer window, Elliott's self-belief will surely make him feel he can fill the gap created by the likely six-week lay-off for Thiago in the engine room.
And while at 19 Elliott still has the best days of such a promising career ahead of him, he may just feel as though this term is one to make up for lost time.
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