An update has emerged on Wolves centre-back Conor Coady, regarding Newcastle's interest in his services.

What's the talk?

According to The Sun, Frank McPartland, a leading advisor for Amanda Staveley, is championing a move for the England international ahead of the January transfer window.

The report claims that it would take an offer in the region of £20m to prise him away from Molineux, along with big wages to tempt him to quit Wolves.

Fans would be fuming

PIF must avoid their first major blunder as owners of Newcastle following this update on Coady. The fans would surely be fuming if the club splurged out on £20m for the centre-back when it could be better spent elsewhere.

Coady is renowned for his leadership and personality on and off the pitch. He has been the captain at Wolves since Nuno Santo initially joined in 2017 and his former Liverpool teammate Adam Morgan once hailed him as a 'mentality monster', saying:

“Some players leave a big club, their boyhood club, and they struggle to adjust. They can’t get their head round the fact they’ve dropped down.

“I couldn’t. I wasn’t mentally strong at that time. I am now, but I wasn’t then. Conor was different.

“A lot of football is played in the head, and Conor is as mentally strong as you can get. That’s a quality you can’t buy, but he had it in abundance. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realise Conor Coady was going to be OK when he left Liverpool. He was always a mentality monster.”

This suggests that Coady would be a fantastic presence to have around the club with the way he conducts himself on and off the pitch. However, you also want a top-class player if you are paying £20m and splashing out on significant wages. Simply, his statistics for Wolves do not suggest that Newcastle would be getting one.

In the 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 campaigns, Coady averaged WhoScored ratings of 6.45, 6.51 and 6.53 respectively. During that same period, Lascelles, who is one year younger than the ex-Liverpool man, averaged scores of 6.80, 6.70 and 6.60. This suggests that the current Magpies defender has performed to a significantly higher level, despite declining each year, which is why the supporters would be furious to see such a fee spent on the Wolves man.

Therefore, PIF would be committing their first real blunder by spending big money to bring Coady to the club. Instead, they should look to bring in a player who can stand out on the pitch in the Premier League whilst also offering leadership in the dressing room. A daunting task... but one that could be worthwhile if they can unearth a gem in the transfer market.

AND in other news, Forget Wilson: Newcastle beast with 8 clearances stole the show vs Palace...