PRIDE OF YORKSHIRE
Holgate: I could play for Jamaica ...but Mum and Dad would kill me if I don’t choose England
MASON HOLGATE is having the time of his life, but there’s one piece of the jigsaw missing – a call from Gareth Southgate.
A regular at Everton, learning his trade under Italian boss Carlo Ancelotti and a new five-year contract in the bag, Holgate’s career is flying as he heads to Chelsea today.
The 23-year-old was recently linked with Manchester City before he signed his new deal and England manager Southgate was at Goodison Park a week ago as Everton drew with Manchester United.
A senior England call-up ahead of Euro 2020 would complete the picture for Holgate who is also still eligible to play for Jamaica.
That’s caused a friendly family split with Holgate’s Jamaican grandparents hoping he follows their roots.
The defender’s mum and dad have other ideas and Holgate said: “My grandma and grandad are Jamaican, so it would be nice for that side of the family.
“But I don’t think my mum and dad would speak to me again if I turned England down!
“I couldn’t turn England down. I’m from Yorkshire, I’m from Doncaster!
“So I don’t think I’ve got much of a choice. I’m English, I’ve come through the Under-20 and Under-21 age groups, I’ve always been an England fan, supporting them at World Cups and Euros.
“So as much as I would love to do that for my grandma and grandad and they would be proud of me, I see myself as English – and it’s England who I want to play for.
“At the moment, though, it’s not at the forefront of my mind. I’m concentrating on my games for Everton.
“When the time comes to make those decisions, I’ll make them. But it’s my performances here that will dictate what happens at international level.
“Now, it’s about trying to win games for Everton and push for Europe. The time will inevitably come when I need to make the decision and that’s when I’ll do it.
“But it’s something I can’t really affect, I can only do what I can for Everton and see if it leads to a call-up. If so, I’ll be the happiest man in the world.
“If it doesn’t I’ll know I’ve done everything possible for Everton and there’s not much more I can do about it. Ultimately, it’s not my decision, it’s Gareth Southgate’s to make.”
Holgate has emerged as a first-choice centre-back with Ancelotti often rotating his partner between Colombian
World Cup star Yerry Mina and England’s Michael Keane.
That’s been a huge boost – and he was flattered to hear he was on Pep Guardiola’s radar.
“It’s obviously really nice and flattering to read things like that because this time last year or a few years before that, it wouldn’t have even been a conversation. But I’m just so happy to be playing here and signing the new contract was a no-brainer.
“With the direction the club are going in, there’s more than enough reason to think we can achieve things in the next five years and that’s what I want to do.”
Everton are unbeaten at Goodison under Ancelotti but away wins have been harder to come by – and Holgate knows they can’t throw away points on the road such as at Arsenal recently, losing 3-2 after twice being ahead.
He added: “We can’t go away especially to places like the Emirates or Stamford Bridge and concede three sloppy goals
“It’s something that we’re learning from and hopefully we’ll take into the game with Chelsea.
“Qualifying for Europe was the target for us at the start of the season, and although it’s been a season of lows and highs I think we can still achieve that.”