Everton January transfer decision in club's 'court' as manager makes honest 'not happy' claim

Russell Martin has admitted that Mason Holgate's Southampton future will be dictated by Everton.

The centre-back joined the Championship outfit in the summer transfer window on a season-long loan. He was fifth-choice in the pecking order at Goodison Park and played only nine times for the Toffees throughout the 2022-23 campaign.

However, Holgate has struggled for minutes at the Saints. So far, he's made just five appearances with Jan Bednarek and Taylor Harwood-Bellis the preferred options for the south-coast outfit, who are third in the table . The 27-year-old was absent for Southampton's 1-1 draw at Norwich City on New Year's Day because of a knock.

But when asked if Holgate will still be at St Mary's come the end of the January transfer window, Martin conceded that Everton won't be happy by the lack of game-time. Speaking to the Southern Daily Echo, Southampton manager Martin said: "He took a bit of a whack, it swelled up, hopefully he will be back for the game on Saturday.

“I honestly don’t know (if he will be here at the end of the month). I don’t expect him to be happy with not playing much. I don’t expect Everton to be happy with him not playing very much. The ball is very much in their court I think.

“If he wants to leave and go play somewhere else we probably have to respect that and we will be ready for that. Either way, if he stays I’m happy. If he goes because he wants to play football and it works for the club financially then maybe we can do something else."