Everton transfer news as defender hunt begins after Conor Coady snub

Everton will “look elsewhere” for defenders after opting against signing Conor Coady on a permanent basis, according to The Guardian.

The Toffees turned down the chance to sign the Wolves man permanently after his season-long loan at the club.

Coady has now returned to their parent club Wolves after Everton decided not to sign him for £4.5million.

“Conor Coady has left Everton after the club decided not to sign the England international on a permanent basis,” according to The Guardian (pg 37, 2 June).

“Everton had the option to sign the defender for £4.5million as part of his season-long loan from Wolves and will look elsewhere for central defenders.”

Everton was going strong defensively at one point in the season, but the goals conceded column started to creep up as the season went on.

Still, it was nothing compared to their lack of goals going forward, with the Toffees defense definitely not to blame for their struggles in the most recent campaign.

Coady proved to be a solid partner for James Tarkowski under manager Frank Lampard, but the former quickly lost his position in the starting XI to Michael Keane when Sean Dyche took over, with that managerial change perhaps the main reason why Coady has returned to Wolves.

His future there is up in the air after being sent away for the whole campaign, but one certainty is that the Toffees could do a lot worse than having someone like Coady among their ranks.

His experience and leadership are two qualities that were missing at Goodison Park this season, while they will struggle to find a player of his ability for a similar £ 4.5 million fee.