Conor Coady has again been speaking about his exit from Wolves in the summer, and has rubbished claims he did not want to stay and fight for his place.
The 29-year-old left Molineux to join Everton on loan, in what was one of the window’s more eyebrow-raising moves.
Coady leaving was believable for some, with Wolves changing to a back four.
But it was the fact that it was a loan move that many people really couldn’t understand.
Some felt the club should have just sold Coady, or at least negotiated a much higher buy option with Everton. Reportedly, it is only £5 million.
Coady left after sitting on the bench for Wolves’ first game of the 2022/23 season against Leeds United. The defender said that it just didn’t feel right, and days later he completed his move to Merseyside.
Coady has been speaking about his exit from Wolves again. And he has clapped back at one claim a lot of people were making at the time.
He told Sky Sports: “I have heard a lot of things about how I jumped, how I did not even fight for my place. It was nothing like that. Wolves told me what they wanted, what was going on, and that was it.
“Listen, I love Wolves. I love it to bits. I love the people there, I love the players there, I love the supporters there, I love everything about it. But I could tell when I went back for pre-season that something was not the same, something was not right.”
At the time of his exit, there were also reports that Coady had wanted to go somewhere he would play regularly in order to make England’s World Cup squad for Qatar.
In that sense, his decision was vindicated, as he is a part of Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad.
Conor Coady was only doing what was right for him, as he rubbishes claims he didn’t want to fight for his place
The Coady exit is still a bit of a sore subject for some Wolves fans.
It was definitely a strange one. The club sanctioning a loan move for their captain to a Premier League rival really was an odd move.
And it was borne out of Coady’s loyalty to the club and everything he achieved at Molineux.
Really, Wolves should not have made it so easy for Everton, who were desperate for centre-back additions at the time.
Coady was within his rights to want out once it became clear he wouldn’t be playing so much. But Wolves needed to do much better on the actual deal. They served the player more than they did themselves.