The Barnsley product was highly coveted at the time of his transfer to Everton.
Mason Holgate says he has no regrets about leaving Barnsley for Everton two years ago.
Manchester United took Holgate on trial in the summer of 2015, but he signed for Everton a month later in a deal worth just over £1 million.
It took the 21-year-old another year to break into Everton’s first team, but he became a regular under Ronald Koeman in the latter part of last season, and helped the Merseyside club to a seventh-place finish.
However, Holgate has often found himself demoted to the substitutes’ bench this time around, starting just four Premier League fixtures and failing to feature in any of their last three.
Speaking to Sky Sports this week, however, the Yorkshireman insisted: “I definitely made the right choice.
“Everton always give youngsters a chance and that’s been proven with the games I have been given. I am really happy with the decision that I made and I would not change it.”
Surprisingly, Holgate has featured just once under Everton’s caretaker manager David Unsworth, his former boss at under-23 level.
But the England Under-21 international spoke highly of Unsworth nonetheless, crediting the 44-year-old with improving the defensive side of his game.
“At the time I was really focused on what I was doing on the ball,” he added. “He [Unsworth] has helped me a lot with the defensive side of the game and my positioning. That was something we worked on in my first year and it helped me a lot going into my second year.
“He broke it all down and got me to focus on what to do without the ball too. We looked at my body position in my one-on-one defending and improved my communication as well. It really helped me with my overall game to sort all of that out.”
Does Holgate deserve another chance in Everton’s first team?
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