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United States international Antonee Robinson signed a new three-year contract with Everton on Friday but will spend the upcoming season on loan at Wigan. Robinson, 20, came up through Everton's academy but has yet to play for the Toffees' first team. The left-back spent last season on loan with Bolton Wanderers, starting 26 games, and will return to the Championship with the Latics in 2018-19. His new Everton contract signifies the club sees him as a player for the future, but their recent signing of Lucas Digne from Barcelona meant Robinson's playing time would have been limited at Goodison Park this season. "It feels great to know that Everton have faith in me with this contract," Robinson told U.S. Soccer's website. "Even though at the minute they feel I might not be quite ready for the Premier League with the team they have, they do feel I've got a future with them. They just want me to get loaned out and get that experience. "I think I'll get really good experience with Wigan. They're a great footballing team and it should allow me to grow even more." Robinson said he chose Wigan over a return to Bolton because he thought Latics manager Paul Cook's tactics would give him more opportunities to get forward. "Both teams wanted me, but when I spoke to people I trusted -- friends, family, coaches -- and weighed the two clubs together, I felt like I learned a lot at Bolton but I could learn even more at Wigan with the style of play," he told U.S. Soccer. "The manager knows that I'm an attacking fullback and he really wants to exploit that in the team. He definitely likes for the full-backs to get forward, bombing up and down and attacking in the final third of the field. He also trusts me enough to get back and defend when I have to." Robinson impressed in his first two appearances for the U.S. national team in friendlies earlier this summer, starting in a win over Bolivia and a draw with eventual World Cup champions France. "After we played that game I said they would win the World Cup," he said of the 1-1 draw with France. "A few of the other players did as well. We performed very well against them and it goes to show that even though we're a young team just getting to know each other, as long as the team develops together over the years we've got a real chance of winning stuff in the not too distant future."
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