Seamus Coleman has excepted the contract extension offered to him by Everton meaning the Irishman will spend one more season at Goodison Park.
Coleman has been a loyal and consistently effective servant of the Blues ever since his now famous £60,000 signing from Sligo Rovers back in 2009.
He has always given his all for Everton and his passion and commitment to the club has never been doubted by supporters.
While there may be more naturally talented full-backs than the 34-year-old Irishman, he has proved a true fan favourite and recently has become a leader in the team too, assuming the captain’s armband.
For a while when he first joined, he formed a great full-back partnership with Leighton Baines in the last few years of David Moyes time as Everton manager.
In fact for a period those two were arguably the best full-back pair in the English top flight.
Recently, Coleman has watched as various managers and high-profile and expensive signings have come and gone.
Meanwhile, results have declined and the club’s fortunes have reached a nadir under the ownership of Farhad Moshiri.
And, the last two seasons have seen the Blues flirt with relegation only surviving on the penultimate week in the 2021-22 campaign and then on the final day itself last season.
Although the Irish international’s performances have declined in recent seasons and he has had a succession of frustrating injuries, he has still found the energy and skill to put in some strong efforts in the final weeks when Everton needed it most of all.
Furthermore, with the departure of fellow veteran defenders Conor Coady and Yerry Mina, Coleman’s huge experience and game-nous will surely be neede more next season.
That is likely to be especially important if the Toffees have a number of new, potentially young and in Premier League terms inexperinced, players in their squad when the new campaign kicks off.
Having him on the bench will also be reassuring given how injury-prone Sean Dyche’s other right-back Nathan Patterson is.