Loaning Holgate in January would tighten up Southampton’s error-strewn defence

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Mason Holgate is set to be allowed to leave Everton on loan during the January transfer window, according to the Daily Mirror.

The 22-year-old English defender has not played for the Toffees since the 3-1 defeat against West Ham in September and has slipped right down the pecking order at both right back and centre back.

The five-year deal he signed a year ago indicates that his long-term future is at Goodison Park, but he will be allowed to leave on a temporary basis during the mid-season window.

The Mirror claim that there has been significant interest in Holgate from both the Premier League and Championship and one club who should muscle themselves to the front of the queue are Southampton.

Ralph Hasenhuttl has inherited a defence that is making individual errors on a constant basis and Jannik Vestergaard was the latest in the Saints’ 1-0 defeat to Cardiff on Saturday.

The new man in the St Mary’s hotseat needs defenders he can rely on and Holgate is a hugely talented young defender who would bring class and composure to a backline that is in dire need of those qualities.

And if Holgate wants any insight into what Hasenhuttl is like, he can ask Toffees team-mate Ademola Lookman, who shone under the Austrian during their time together at RB Leipzig last season.