Conor Coady to join Everton on loan as Wolves target Guedes for £27.5m

Conor Coady will join Everton on loan in a deal that could be completed as early as Monday. Wolves have sanctioned the temporary exit of their captain to allow him to play regular football in the build-up to the World Cup and Everton will have an option to buy the England centre-back at the end of the season. Wolves, meanwhile, will make the Valencia forward Gonçalo Guedes their second summer signing in a £27.5m deal.

Coady, a product of Liverpool’s academy, will bolster Everton’s defensive options after Ben Godfrey fractured his leg in the 1-0 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday. Coady started every Premier League game for Wolves last season but was among the substitutes as they began the campaign with a defeat at Leeds at the weekend. The 29-year-old is a hugely popular figure at Molineux and Bruno Lage was happy to keep the defender, but he departs with the head coach’s blessing.

Coady is a victim of Lage’s decision to shift his tactics during the close-season and opt for a back four, preferring Nathan Collins – a £20.5m summer arrival from Burnley – and Max Kilman in a two-man central defence. Coady has played in a back five for the majority of his time at Wolves, whom he joined from Huddersfield in 2015. Everton tend to operate with a back five and Coady could slot in alongside Yerry Mina and James Tarkowski, another summer signing. Meanwhile, Frank Lampard has confirmed the 20-year-old midfielder Amadou Onana is set to sign from Lille.

On Friday Lage described Coady as “one of the best people I know in football”. He added: “Since Wolves arrived in the Premier League do you know how many games they played? 152. You know how many games Coady played? 151. With me he played all the games. Massive respect from me to Coady and