Wolves sell experienced defender as Julen Lopetegui rebuilds
Latest Wolverhampton Wanderers transfer news from BirminghamLive as England defender Conor Coady moves to Leicester
Wolves have completed the sale of Conor Coady to Leicester City as they generate more funds to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations and to rebuild the squad this summer.
The 30-year-old central defender makes the switch after the clubs agreed an initial £7.5million deal with a further £1m due to Wolves if the Foxes win promotion from the Championship.
Coady, who has signed a three-year deal, becomes the latest high-profile exit from Molineux after Ruben Neves was sold to Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal for £47m, a deal that had gone a long way to helping Wolves stay the right side of those FFP regulations.
The exit of Coady was always on the cards after Wolves, then under the management of Bruno Lage, allowed him to join Premier League rivals Everton on a season-long loan last summer. That followed Lage’s decision to switch from a back three to a four which he felt wouldn’t suit Coady.
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The England defender wasn’t a regular at Goodison Park once Sean Dyche was appointed manager in January and so they decided against triggering a £4.5m clause in the deal which would have made the move permanent.
However, Wolves have raised considerably more than that with the sale to Leicester who are looking to get out of the Championship at the first attempt after relegation from the Premier League in May.
The deal ends Coady’s eight years at Molineux in which he captained the club to promotion from the Championship and made 317 appearances.
He could be followed out by fellow centre half Nathan Collins who is the subject of interest from Brentford and talks about a deal worth more than £20m.