Holgate has become a key player under Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti and started all but one of the Italian’s first 15 Premier League matches as Everton boss, before bowing out of the league campaign prematurely due to a shin injury.
The 23-year-old had an excellent 2019/20 Premier League season, producing consistent defensive performances after returning to Goodison Park from his loan spell at West Bromwich Albion.
Ferdinand, a five-time Premier League winner with Manchester United, has tipped Holgate to turn into an elite defender and believes the Everton starlet’s passing range and ball playing ability sets him apart.
The 41-year-old is of the view that Holgate’s defensive capacity, blended with his penchant to play passes that swiftly turn defence into attack, is the hallmark of an elite defender in the making.
“I’ve seen Mason play passes that eliminate four or five people out of the game – that means the player he finds is facing the back three or four of the opposing team”, Ferdinand told Everton’s official site.
“Whether that pass is over 20 yards, 30 yards, 40 yards, it doesn’t matter.
“If you can create more opportunities like that for your attacking players, you’re going to get more chances to score goals.
“Most centre-backs might play a lot of passes simple to the full-back – you get it, and play it to the nearest player – but the top, elite ones, where I think Mason can go, are the ones who play passes that eliminate people out of the game”
Holgate, who signed a five-year Everton contract in March, will be looking to kick on under Ancelotti next season.
