Everton buy option for Wolves defender Conor Coady just £4.5million

The former skipper departed Molineux for Premier League rivals Everton on-loan in August in order to play regular football and keep himself in Gareth Southgate’s England plans for the World Cup in November.

Coady was an unused substitute for the first game of the season before he left, as then manager Bruno Lage opted to change to a back four and was preparing to leave Coady on the bench every week.

As a result, Coady was keen to leave and Wolves were happy to let a player move on that had served them so well over the years.

Now, it has been revealed in The Telegraph that Everton’s buy option for Coady is just £4.5million.

Wolves will also have been paid a loan fee for Coady and have got his wages off the books this season, while it is understood there are add-ons included in the deal if Everton make it permanent.

However, the up front £4.5million figure seems small for a current England international. At the time, Wolves felt it was appropriate as the decision had been made to let him leave.

Meanwhile, Daniel Podence has said the Wolves squad needed a change in the aftermath of Lage’s sacking.

Although the winger does admit the players need to do better, he feels that the club had to act.

“It’s very sad because it means us as players didn’t make a good job as well,” Podence said.

“We are playing in a good way but we are not winning points or games. It’s not just about the boss, it’s us as well. It makes us feel bad.

“At the same point, we needed something new or a different way to do things because players were not doing so good in training sessions or at matches. Something had to change and the club realised the boss had to go.

“We have to accept it and we have to deal with it now with a different (boss). As players, we have to demand much more from each other. It’s a mix of everything: the system and the management. Even the players were getting comfortable and we needed something different and now we have it.

“We have been watching a lot of teams sacking their manager and still doing a bad job so I think us as players, we have to think and realise that we have to do so much more.”