Everton and England centre-back Conor Coady may return to his parent club following the imminent change of manager at Molineux.
That is the opinion of former Premier League footballer Gabriel Agbonlahor, who was giving his thoughts to Football Insider on the matter.
Former Wolves boss Bruno Lage allowed club captain Coady to leave the club on a season-long loan to Everton this summer, believing the 29-year-old wouldn’t be able to fit into his new system built around a back four.
However, following the Portuguese head coach’s sacking, both Coady and the new manager may want to rekindle the Liverpool-born player at the Molineux club.
The current Everton centre-back, who has previously been described as “phenomenal” by former Wolves teammate Dave Edwards, will not be able to return to the West Midlands mid-season, with there being no recall option in the loan deal, while the Toffees having an option to buy for just £4.5m at the end of his loan.
Despite this, Agbonlahor feels that Coady may be convinced to return to Wolves at the end of his loan spell, given changes taking place in the dugout.
Asked if he could see Coady turning down prolonging his Everton career in favour of a Wolves return, he said: “I think there could be a big chance of that.
“If a new manager comes in, he might be thinking ‘Hang on a second, I want this guy back’.
“If it’s in the contract, then maybe you haven’t seen the last of Conor Coady at Wolves.”
TIF Thoughts on Agbonlahor’s comments…
We believe that whilst a return to Molineux is not impossible for Coady, we think that a situation in which the former club captain is playing for Wolves next season is very unlikely.
At Everton, the 10-time England international is part of a backline that has conceded the lowest amount of goals in the Premier League, and at this point, it feels unlikely that the Toffees won’t take up their reported £4.5m option on the defender.
Therefore, whilst Wolves’ next manager may crave a Coady return, the situation will largely be out of their hands and up to the Merseyside club, who we feel will want to take up that buy option next summer – in which case, it’s up to the player himself.