I want to help bring European football to our new stadium

AFTER committing himself to the club until 2028, James Tarkowski has declared that his ambition is to bring European football to Hill Dickinson Stadium.

- By CHRIS BEESLEY

And the centre-back has insisted that Everton's new 52,769 capacity home on the Mersey waterfront has "the best atmosphere" he's ever played in.

The 32-year-old, who joined the Blues on a Bosman-style free transfer in the summer of 2022 when he became a free agent at Burnley, was due to come to the end of his initial three-year deal at the end of this season but he has now signed a contract extension for a further two years.

Tarkowski hasn't missed a minute of Everton's nine matches in all competitions so far this term having returned from surgery on a hamstring injured suffering against Manchester City on April 19, which ended his sequence of 109 consecutive starts for the club in the Premier League.

The run included the unbridled scenes of celebration after the Mancunian scored a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser against Liverpool with the last kick of a ball from a home player to ensure the Blues did not leave Goodison Park with a losing record against their neighbours after more than 130 years of Merseyside derby combat.

Tarkowski acknowledges that Evertonians have successfully transported that passion some two miles down the road from Walton to Vauxhall though and said: “There was a lot of talk when we left Goodison about what it was going to be like at the new stadium.