Former Liverpool youngster Ryan McLaughlin has told Sky Sports how Conor Coady was always a leader coming through the youth system at Anfield.
The versatile Northern Irishman, now of Rochdale, never represented the Reds at first team level but did play a host of matches for their academy teams.
Having come through the ranks with Wolves captain Coady at Liverpool’s previous training home Melwood, the 26-year-old spoke about the development of his former teammate and his leadership skills. McLaughlin said of the England international: ”We were 4-0 up against Inter Milan in the youth Champions League and I won him two penalties, yet he was still screaming at me.”
Coady has received plenty of credit for his leadership qualities as well as his performances since making the move to Molineux – missing only one Premier League game for Wolves since their promotion in 2018 – and McLaughlin had nothing but praise for the Scouse centre-back.
He said of Coady’s involvement in the England manager’s leadership group: “It’s an unbelievable quality. To have worn the armband already just shows what Gareth Southgate thinks of him and I had no doubt he’d go on to do brilliant things.”
Recently linked with a return to Anfield as the Premier League champions bear the brunt of a defensive injury crisis, the 27-year-old left Liverpool in 2014 to join Huddersfield Town, a move for which McLaughlin credited Coady by saying: “He took a step back to go forward by leaving Liverpool and it takes big mental strength to make that decision.”
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Having failed to cut it the first time around at his boyhood club, Coady has blossomed into arguably the perfect Jurgen Klopp central defender.
Confident on the ball with a fabulous range of passing, a natural leader who has shone both in the Premier League and internationally, the St Helens-born defender would likely slot straight into the Reds lineup, especially given the current challenges faced in that position by the Merseysiders.
Despite not exactly being short of leaders in the current squad, with three fronts still to fight on in 2020/21 and with Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez unlikely to play any part, Klopp and the recruitment staff are almost certain to delve into the transfer market in January.
A move for Coady might not be out of the question, and given his boyhood Anfield persuasion, he may be tempted to return to his hometown.
