Holgate has eyes on Europe as Ancelotti inspires Blues
The Premier League title is about to turn red with the countdown on until Liverpool become champions, but across Stanley Park, Mason Holgate is convinced a positive blue future is just around the corner.
The arrival of Carlo Ancelotti as manager just before Christmas has changed the landscape at Everton, with the Italian, a serial trophy winner, making the team look like a serious prospect again.
Results have picked up and, as they head to Stamford Bridge this afternoon to play Chelsea, there is a genuine belief around the club they can claim a European spot this season.
Ancelotti has talked of Everton as a “project” and it is the likes of Holgate and striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin who are set to be at the forefront of the 60-year-old’s attempt to restore the club to past glories.
Holgate, 23, has played in all but one Premier League game since Ancelotti arrived and this week he signed a new long-term five-year contract to keep him at Goodison Park until 2025.
“It was a no-brainer for me to say yes straight away,” he said. “I knew I wanted to stay here.
“With the direction the club are going in, that’s more than enough for me to think we can achieve things in the next five years and that’s something I want to do.
“It’s a right good changing room to be involved in. I have grown up with people like Dominic and Tom [Davies]. We’re a young team, but we know each other so well and it’s why I’m really positive about the future.
“With this manager, it doesn’t even need to be said about the teams and players he’s worked with, and the things he’s won. Everything he says comes from a place where he’s done it before. It makes it a lot easier to respect him and do what he says and that is showing from our performances.”
England head coach Gareth Southgate was at Goodison Park last Sunday to see the 1-1 draw with Manchester United and, with plenty of English faces in the Everton line-up, Holgate will be on the radar.
He has played for the age groups teams at under-20 and under-21 level, and although he could represent Jamaica because of his grandparents, there is no doubt in his mind about where loyalties would lie.
“As much as I would do that for my grandma and grandad, I don’t think my mum and dad would speak to me if I turned England down,” he said with a smile. “I couldn’t do that, I’m from Yorkshire!”