Conor Coady’s Sheffield United “love” revisited after Wolves, Everton transfer link

Wolves defender has been linked with Blades if Everton don’t keep him
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Conor Coady has already detailed how he “loved” his loan spell at Sheffield United, after the Blades were linked with a summer move for the England international defender.

The Liverpudlian spent last season on loan at Everton from Wolves, with uncertainty over whether he will remain at Goodison Park beyond the summer. Reports suggest his contract has a £4.5m buyout clause contained within it but Coady’s opportunities under Sean Dyche were limited last summer and he may return to Molineux.

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Coady spent a season at United during their time in League One after joining from Liverpool and helped United to the semi-finals of the FA Cup under boss Nigel Clough. He moved permanently to Huddersfield Town shortly after his loan spell ended and went on to establish himself in the Premier League, winning 10 England caps to date.

Speaking on the Super6 podcast in 2021, Coady remembered the half-time atmosphere at Wembley with United leading top-flight side Hull City and potentially 45 minutes from a place in Europe.

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“We came in at half time and everyone was silent, and we all just burst out laughing,” Coady said. “If we’d have got to the final we’d have been in the Europa League and we were in League One.

“It was mental to even think of that so we just had a laugh to ourselves, and the game was incredible. We gave a great account of ourselves and the club is brilliant. I loved it there.”

If the £4.5m figure is correct, it would take up a sizeable chunk of the budget boss Paul Heckingbottom has at his disposal this summer, without taking wages into account, and it would be interesting to see where Coady would fit in United’s plans if his name did indeed feature on the top-secret list of names drawn up by Heckingbottom and his head of recruitment, Paul Mitchell.

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Anel Ahmedhodzic was a revelation on the right of United’s back three while John Egan has previously impressed in the top-flight, and playing a right-footer on the left would upset the natural balance. But Coady’s arrival, as a seasoned Premier League performer and England international, could fulfil a similar role to Phil Jagielka last time out when the Blades were promoted to the Premier League.

“It was brilliant, absolutely brilliant. I can’t speak highly enough of my time at Sheffield United,” Coady continued of his South Yorkshire spell.

“The people were fantastic. Nigel was fantastic for me. He’s a real good man and a fantastic manager who helped me kick on and made sure we had a good season.

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“The league was brilliant, the things we were doing. I went there under David Weir and it was tough because we were trying to play a different way and it was a tough, tough league.

“Nigel came in and really changed it, he knew the league and how to play with the players he had. We had so many games and it was brilliant. I loved every minute of it.”

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