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Everton's Mason Holgate shares hilarious moment Carlo Ancelotti silenced the dressing room
Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti left the first-team squad silenced in the dressing room before laughing at their lack of knowledge about his career.
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Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti enjoyed a hugely-successful playing career in Serie A - but his players have little knowledge about his former life. The Italian won a string of titles and helped his country to third place at the 1990 World Cup before turning his hand to management. He took charge at Goodison Park last December and appears to have won the respect of his first-team squad.
Everton ace Mason Holgate has shared a tale of how Ancelotti left the first-team squad silenced in the dressing room when he asked them whether anyone had seen him play.
Ancelotti turned out for Italian giants Parma, Roma and AC Milan while winning 26 caps for the Azzurri.
Holgate told the Daily Mail: “As a man, he is unbelievable. The stories he has are crazy.
“There was a point a few weeks ago when he asked in the dressing room, ‘Did anyone see me play?’ As a squad, we are quite young, so it all went quiet! He started laughing and then began to tell us a few things.”
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Ancelotti is, arguably, one of the most well-known managers of his generation having taken charge of Parma, Juventus, Milan, Chelsea, PSG, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Napoli before rocking up on Merseyside.
Holgate has come on leaps and bounds under the 60-year-old and believes he has been crucial to his development.
“I look at the players he has worked with in my position,” he said. “He has worked with some of the best names and got the best out of them, so when he says something — or when he does something — you know he has done it all before. It is coming from experience. If he is saying something, it will be right.”
Holgate was linked with a move to Manchester City last month but, speaking at the time, Ancelotti moved quickly to shut down the speculation.
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Ancelotti stated: ”I think it's a rumour, but if it's not a rumour I can say Mason Holgate is an important part of the future of Everton.
"There is no possibility he can go to another club.
"Zero possibility, like my friend [Jose] Mourinho says! Zero."
The Premier League is currently suspended until April 30 due to the coronavirus pandemic although it is feared the 2019/20 campaign will not be completed until the summer.