Everton star Conor Coady has sung the praises of James Tarkowski and what he offers the club. The defenders have now spent six months together after their transfers last summer.
Frank Lampard moved to reinvent his backline whilst in charge at Goodison Park with deals for the centre-halves. Tarkowski moved to Merseyside for free after his contract at Burnley expired. While Coady arrived on loan from Wolves with a £4.5m option to buy him in 2023.
Coady and Tarkowski have since featured in 22 fixtures together across all competitions at Everton. The former has only featured alongside Alex Iwobi and Vitaliy Mykolenko as often at Goodison. He has further started in all 21 available Premier League games for the Blues.
Lampard was without Coady against his parent club, Wolves, on Boxing Day owing to being on loan. He also opted against playing him against Fleetwood Town in the Carabao Cup last August, unlike Tarkowski. While Coady was still at Wolves when Everton visited Molineux.
Tarkowski started at Wolves on the opening day of the Premier League season for his top-flight debut for Everton. He has since opened all 23 of their fixtures so far this term having, like Coady, kept a starting role under Sean Dyche through his first three matches in charge.
Tarkowski has captivated Coady on and off the pitch since they joined Everton
Coady already knew about what Tarkowski could offer before the 29-year-old followed the 30-year-old to Everton in August. The centre-halves had faced each other on 10 occasions previously. Coady’s Wolves took on Tarkowski’s Burnley over seven of their past meetings.
Their first clash came in April 2014 whilst Coady played on loan from Liverpool for Sheffield United against Tarkowski’s Brentford. Now, the defenders have established a close bond at Goodison after six months together. Coady also lauds what Tarkowski produces at Everton.
“I love him,” Coady has told Everton’s in-house media. “He’s class – one of my best mates. I knew about Tarky before I came to the club. I’ve played against him loads of times before and I knew how much of a top player he is. I’ve had good battles against him in the past.
“But now, coming in and experiencing him every single day — the sort of character he is, the sort of friend he is, the sort of player he is – he’s huge for us.
“He’s a big part of the dressing room and I’ve grown close to him over the months we’ve been here. I think he’s brilliant in terms of what he brings and how he holds himself.”
Tarkowski agreed to sign a four-year contract to complete his transfer to Everton as a free agent in July. While Coady will have two years left on his deal at Wolves from this summer.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
