Mate excitedly clutches extremely useful trinket (6)
I believe the answer is:
amulet
'trinket' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'mate excitedly clutches extremely useful' is the wordplay.
'excitedly' indicates an anagram.
'clutches' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'extremely' suggests removing the centre.
'useful' with its centre removed is 'ul'.
'mate' is an anagram of 'amet'.
'amet' going around 'ul' is 'AMULET'.
(Other definitions for amulet that I've seen before include "Trinket worn to protect one from evil" , "Jewel to protect from witchcraft" , "Ornament thought to give protection" , "Protective ornament" , "Charm, lucky token" .)