Coady’s England call-up reaction is perfect reminder of the beauty of football

At an event named the Globe Soccer Awards, there is a category for Best Agent.

Jorge Mendes won in its inaugural year of 2010 and again in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Mino Raiola took the accolade in 2016, presumably for earning a reported £41million off Paul Pogba’s return to Old Trafford that summer.

Hard to argue with that.

But if they have the front to run the award for 2020, it must be Mendes yet again.

Because even by the standards of a nine-times Agent of the Year, the Matt Doherty move to Spurs from Wolves was a thing of go- between beauty.

Doherty leaves Wolves, a club owned by a company with a large stake in Mendes’ agency.

Doherty leaves manager Nuno Espirito Santo, a Mendes client.

Doherty joins manager Jose Mourinho, a Mendes client.

Doherty, not long ago, became a Mendes client.

The clean sweep, like a striker scoring a hat-trick with left foot, right foot and head.

Worth an award in anyone’s business. And a good move for Doherty.

It seems a bit of a strange one for Wolves, though, as Doherty has been a key component over the past couple of Premier League seasons, a transfer fee in the region of £14million seems an absolute steal and Spurs are very much a direct rival.

Still, you never know, the touted possible replacement, Napoli’s Faouzi Ghoulam, will be cheaper and might be just as good.

Ghoulam, by the way, is a client of… you know the rest.

There is nothing illegal or rule-breaking about any of this but it is just a snapshot of how club football is as much a playground for the wheelers, dealers, inter- mediaries, call them what you like, as it is for the footballers.

In general, there is nothing particularly soul- lifting about the business of Premier League football.

So thank heavens for international football and for Doherty’s now-former team-mate Conor Coady.

This is a strangely-timed international window and you can certainly see why club managers have reservations about it.

But any scepticism or criticism should have been swept away by Coady’s funny, moving, heart- warming account of getting his call-up from Gareth Southgate.

There is a two- minute clip on social media, watch it if you get a moment. In it, Coady says: “It was a phone call I will never, ever forget for the rest of my life. It was incredible. I was shaking.”

There were tears, from his wife, Amie, and from his parents.

This England double- header against Iceland and Denmark is already worth having, merely for Coady’s reaction.

There has, indeed, been some debate about the wisdom of this international break. Understandably so.

You wouldn’t, for example, blame Pep Guardiola and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for wondering why they have been given extra time to prepare for the start of the Premier League season yet their players are back early for duties with their respective nations.

But Coady’s unbridled delight was a fantastic reminder of what represent- ing your country still means to players.

It was a fantastic reminder that, while the moneymen revel in the eye-watering amounts that swill around the club scene, there are still some moments in the game that are priceless.