A MATTER of days before the biggest game of his career to date, highly-rated Republic of Ireland under-21 defender Séamus Coleman is already celebrating after winning a new four-year contract with Everton.
The Killybegs native, currently on loan at Blackpool, has made just seven appearances for Everton since joining from Sligo Rovers but has shown enough promise to convince manager David Moyes his future lies at Goodison.
In the meantime, there is the small matter of Saturday’s Championship play-off final against Cardiff to contend with.
The right-back joined Blackpool on loan in March and will line out with the Seasiders at Wembley, ready to play his part in guiding the club back to the top flight.
Regardless of the result, the 21-year-old will return to Merseyside after the final where the formalities of his new deal will be concluded.
But a win would cap Coleman’s season off very nicely.
“I wanted to play for a team that had something to play for instead of going to a mid-table side that would merely be playing out the season,” Coleman said of his decision to join Blackpool in March.
“I’m so glad I went to Blackpool. Cardiff are probably favourites, but we’ll be well drilled and well prepared. There will be huge buzz in the town all week and hopefully we can finish the job off.”
After that, it’s back to Everton where he intends to become a permanent fixture in the first team.
“My long-term ambition is to establish myself with Everton and I’m happy to have broken in during my first season, especially as I suffered a strange injury (infected toe) last summer in pre-season,” Coleman added.
