Mason Holgate believes his decision to move to Everton was the best he ever made, describing the clubs ability to make young players feel at home and providing a clear pathway as ‘class’
In an Instagram Live interview on New Era Global Sports’s page, Holgate admitted a move to Everton from Barnsley as an 18-year-old it was not an easy switch.
Holgate: “I think Everton is a huge, huge club and I couldn’t turn it down – especially when you’d seen people walk the same pathway as me. John Stones, Brendan Galloway – people signed from lower league teams were getting chances.
“It’s something I definitely wanted to be involved in straight away.
“I basically knew from the season before that I had to go, it was something I’d got my head around but no matter how much you think about it when you’re 18 – moving away, doing a medical and then moving straight away, it was something I found a bit difficult.
“Now I love it and it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. A lot of people my age were going to uni, so I think my mum and dad tried to sell it to me like that, but it’s not really like that.
“Your friends who go to uni still live with people, whereas I was out on my own. I didn’t know how to turn a washing machine on, make food or anything! The first few months are a massive shock.
“But I think that’s where Everton are class. That’s why there’s a path through for people, the club makes you feel at home.
“Even though it was difficult at times being on my own, the club would make me feel a lot more comfortable, so I didn’t feel like I’d moved from one environment into another.”