Mason Holgate can leave Everton this summer.
A report by Football Insider claims Everton’s Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest and newly-promoted Sheffield United – who have also been linked with a move for Conor Coady – have registered their interest in taking Holgate, who has two years left on his contract, on a temporary basis. And the ECHO understands that Holgate will be allowed to depart Goodison Park on either a permanent deal or a loan should a suitable offer be submitted in the current transfer window.
The 26-year-old last penned a contract extension on March 3, 2020 amid speculation at the time that Manchester City were weighing up a potential £30million bid for him that summer but he started just five Premier League matches last season. Only two of those came under new manager Sean Dyche, the first of which came at Crystal Palace, where he was sent off after 80 minutes for two bookable offences in a goalless draw, while he then endured another difficult afternoon out of position at left-back against Man City in a 3-0 home defeat.
The Doncaster-born player followed John Stones from Barnsley to Everton in August 2015 for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £2million, two-and-a-half years after his fellow defender departed Oakwell. Holgate had made 20 appearances for the Tykes in League One before his switch and has subsequently turned out 149 times for the Blues in all competitions, scoring five goals while spending the second half of the 2018/19 season on loan at Championship side West Bromwich Albion.
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Everton’s defensive options remain in a transitional phase with the aforementioned Coady having departed when the Blues waved their chance to turn his loan deal into a permanent switch while Yerry Mina is also exiting after five years at Goodison Park as his contract expires.
Jarrad Branthwaite, currently on international duty with England at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Georgia and Romania, is set to return after spending last season on loan at PSV, while there is yet to be confirmation that captain Seamus Coleman has accepted the club’s offer of a new one-year deal.
