Conor Coady recalled the moment he knew he had to leave Wolves.
The 29-year-old has joined Everton on a one-season loan, with an option to buy, in what is a major blow for the Toffees whose defense has been ravaged by injuries.
Coady made over 300 appearances in seven seasons at Wolves, having joined Huddersfield Town in 2015.
The Liverpool academy product was the club’s captain and a ubiquitous member of the starting line-up during his seven seasons there.
But he was dropped on the bench for Wanderers’ first game of the new Premier League campaign on Saturday – a 2-1 loss to Leeds – as manager Bruno Lage favored a duo of Max Kilman and Nathan Collins in central defense .
Meanwhile, Everton lost centre-back Ben Godfrey on the opening day of the season when he broke his leg against Chelsea, leading the Toffees to close in on Coady.
Coady’s quick departure came as a big surprise to many Wolves fans, but the defender has joined talkSPORT to open up about his exit from Molineux and explain why he felt the time was right to leave and why he’s delighted to join Everton.
“I’m thrilled,” Coady said in an exclusive interview on talkSPORT Breakfast.
“I’ll be honest with you, pre-season at Wolves has been tough. For five or six years I played every minute, made sure I was fit and ready and it was the same in pre-season, but as footballers you kind of feel the vibe , as if something is happening here, something is wrong.
“I was feeling things in training. Listen, I love this club, I did it for seven years, it’s a very special club, but I could feel things, I could feel things happening Something.
“A lot of people mentioned that I wanted to go there because of the World Cup, it’s not just because of that. I’m 29 and I want to play football every minute of my life, that’s not never changes with me.
“So whether it’s a World Cup year or not, I still want to play football, I don’t want to be sitting on the bench. I was there on the opening day against Leeds and I didn’t love it.
“I tried to help the boys as much as possible, I was there, I was talking, I was trying to do my best and what I always do, but I didn’t like it.
“So to have this opportunity to join Everton and to do that is a proud moment for me.
“It was a tough decision, really. Wolves are a special club full of incredibly special people, but I felt like things weren’t right, things weren’t the same anymore.
“I’m 29 and I want to play football and help a football club, and I have the chance to help this football club now and I want to help Everton as much as possible.
“I want to help the fans and make people proud. It’s no coincidence, but I need to play to do that.
“To have this opportunity, I feel really privileged.”
Coady also insisted there had always been unease between him and Wolves as he negotiated his exit, and thanked the club for helping him leave on good terms.
“I really appreciate Wolves, they’ve been fantastic with me,” said the defender.
“I spoke to them every step of the way. Wolves have always come to tell me about what’s going on, this week and Everton’s interest.
“I told them that [Everton] was the only place I wanted to be, I wanted to be a part of it. I know how big the club is since I was growing up, I also know how big it is for the people of the city, so that was where I wanted to be.
“The transfer itself was great, but I’m very grateful to Wolves for helping me with that.”
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