Eric Klenofsky has had a busy 2016: a summer stint with New York Red Bulls U-23s in PDL; the end of a successful college career at Monmouth University; a call-up (declined, for now) from Antigua and Barbuda's national team. The 22-year-old goalkeeper's next step seemed clear: he finished the year with an invite to the 2017 MLS Combine (and therefore the MLS SuperDraft) and as the top-ranked college senior in the NCAA rankings issued by goalkeeping-scouting site Everybody Soccer.

"[Monmouth Soccer] and everyone that embodies it put me in a position to get to this point in my life, and I couldn’t be more appreciative." pic.twitter.com/EzOKxSeC6r — Monmouth Soccer (@MonmouthSoccer) December 15, 2016

The biggest question about Klenofsky's future seemed mostly to be whether the Red Bulls would even have the chance (with a relatively lowly set of draft picks) to consider adding him to a squad that could use another goalkeeper.

Not so fast, RBNY. Not so fast, MLS.

Everton has noticed the young 'keeper's talent and jumped ahead of the queue of Klenofsky-curious North American teams: Klenofsky is on trial with the Premier League club for the next week or so.

From an undisclosed location in Liverpool, on the eve of the first day of his audition with Everton, Klenofsky took a moment to fill Once A Metro in on his latest career development:

This all came about while I was playing for RBNY U-23s, actually. I guess someone saw me play with them, reached out to me and connected me with a coach within Everton - and we went from there.

The Staten-Island-born-New-Jersey-bred 'keeper is far from home (and from RBNY U-23s), but enjoying the experience and the chance to broaden both his professional and personal horizons:

This is my first time in Europe: kind of intimidating in a way. But I love traveling, especially for football, and I couldn't be happier to be in such a historic city like Liverpool.

Of course, the journey doesn't really start until he's got gloves on his hands and a net behind him. Klenofsky is not yet a professional player, but he has the same ambition as any pro: get out there and play.

Obviously, this is a big opportunity and I'm extremely blessed to be in this situation, but I'm just excited to get into training and prove myself.

Proving himself starts on December 16.