Barnsley FC academy graduate and ex-Sheffield United and West Brom defender looking for new club after release
Former Barnsley and Sheffield United defender Mason Holgate is looking for a new club after being released by Everton.
The 28-year-old is a product of Barnsley’s academy and attracted a host of Premier League admirers after bursting on to the scene at Oakwell.
It was Everton who won the race for his signature, with a reported £2m fee being required to prise him from South Yorkshire.
A decade on from that deal being done, Holgate has left Merseyside to seek pastures new as a free agent.
Mason Holgate departs Everton
Everton are leaving Goodison Park for a new-build stadium and change appears to very much be the current theme at the club.
Holgate is departing alongside five other senior players, as well as an array of academy players.
In their retained list statement, the Toffees said: “Abdoulaye Doucoure, Ashley Young, Joao Virginia, Asmir Begovic, Mason Holgate and Neal Maupay will leave Everton when their current contracts expire at the end of this month, with loanees Jack Harrison, Jesper Lindstrøm, Orel Mangala and Armando Broja returning to their parent clubs.
“In the under-21s, Owen Barker, Jack Butler, Luke Butterfield, Billy Crellin, Matthew Apter, Zan-Luk Leban and Jack Tierney will leave Everton this month.
“Fraser Barnsley, Callum Bates, Eli Campbell, Coby Ebere, Isaac Heath and Jack Patterson have been offered new deals, while scholars George Finney, Harvey Foster, Luca Davis, Aled Thomas and Joshua van Schoor have been offered first professional contracts.
“Everyone at Everton thanks the departing players for their commitment and service and wishes them all the best for the future.”
Mason Holgate’s career path
Holgate is leaving Merseyside with 150 Everton appearances on his CV, although not since the 2021/22 campaign had he featured on a fairly regular basis.
He was loaned to West Bromwich Albion twice, in 2019 and again in 2024. Sheffield United and Southampton borrowed his services too, during the 2023/24 season.
A former England youth international, the defender now represents Jamaica at senior level.
Speaking to SportsBoom in January, Holgate said: “The last couple of years have been a bit tough for me personally. I’ve been injured a lot, I did [tore] my ACL [anterior cruciate ligament] two years ago and didn’t play when I came back, so I went on loan last year.
“Unfortunately my Southampton loan didn’t go as I wanted and then I went to Sheffield United in the January, and that was difficult because of the situation the club was in and the lack of confidence in the team.
“We were not winning many games and we were conceding a lot of goals and, as a defender conceding so many goals, well someone is always going to point the finger at you.”