Jagielka As Hungry As Ever To Succeed With Everton

Phil Jagielka insists he remains as hungry as ever to help Everton achieve success as he heads into his 12th season with the Blues.

The 35-year-old joined the Toffees from Sheffield United in 2007 and has gone on to amass 378 first-team appearances. Only 19 players in Everton’s 140-year history have turned out more times for the Club.

The Blues skipper says he has no intention of taking his foot off the gas, as he revealed his desire to impress the Toffees’ new manager Marco Silva and play an important role in the 2018/19 campaign.

“I’ve been at Everton 11 years now and it’s gone really quickly,” Jagielka told evertonfc.com. “But I’ve got a lot of pride at being at such a great club for such a length of time. I still love it here.

“I still have a lot more to give and I want to prove I’m able to play at the top.”

Jagielka, who along with the rest of the Blues squad is currently on a pre-season training camp in Austria, has already spoken of how Silva’s positive work on the training pitch has got “everyone feeling excited” about the upcoming season.

The defender is convinced Everton’s future is bright as the Club embarks on a new era under the Portuguese boss and Director of Football Marcel Brands.


Jagielka’s confidence is also buoyed by the array of talent in the Blues’ ranks.

He insists the players who have arrived at Goodison Park over the past year will only improve, having had time to acclimatise to life at Everton.

“I was looking around in training and we’ve had quite a few players who have only been here for a year, 10 months or even six months,” he explained. “They’ve had a bedding-in period and I think that will stand them in good stead for this season.

“They are still relatively new to the Club and it’s exciting to see how they will perform after getting that experience under their belts.

“Looking at the squad as a whole, we have a lot of ability. And we’ve got Jordan [Pickford], Gylfi [Sigurdsson] and Gana to come back, too, after they played at the World Cup.

“We’re all pushing for a spot in the squad and the team and it’s important to have that competition for places.”