Everton's Mason Holgate has opened up on the unsuccessful trial he once had at Manchester United.
The 23-year-old has become a cornerstone of the Goodison Park defence under Carlo Ancelotti, after joining the Toffees from Barnsley as an 18-year-old. He followed in the footsteps of John Stones, now at Man City, in making the move from Oakwell to the blue half of Merseyside, but revealed he went on trial with United before the Everton switch.
But after just seven days Holgate returned to Barnsley because of an injury. He would never join United.
In an Instagram Live Q&A for New Era Global Sports, Holgate said: “Yeah I went [to Man United] for a week, then I got injured and went back to Barnsley.
"It was in pre-season, the first team was away and I was just with the under-23s.
“At the time, I wanted to go somewhere and feel like part of a first team. I felt like if I tried to go to one of the bigger clubs I would have been back into a U23s setup, which isn’t what I wanted.
“I’d just played 20 games in League One at 18 years old, which obviously as a defender is good. So I felt like it would have been a step backwards to go to 23s football.
“I wanted to feel like I was going in to, not starting every week, but being in a first-team setup.”
Holgate did eventually get a big move to a Premier League club, though admitted it took time for him to adapt at Everton.
He added: “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."
