Coventry City's summer recuritment got underway with the arrival of two new full-backs through the door but things have gone all quiet on the transfer front since.
The Sky Blues signed left-back Miguel Ángel Brau from Granada last month, with the 23-year-old Spaniard joining on a four-year deal following the expiration of his contract. That was swiftly followed by the signing of Aston Villa right-back Kaine Kesler-Hayden for an undisclosed fee, reported to be anywhere between £3.5m and £5m.
City's players reported back for pre-season training on July 1 and conclude a week-long training camp in Portugal today (Sat, July 12) with a behind-closed-doors friendly against a Portuguese side.
The club’s recruitment department, meanwhile - headed up by Dean Austin - continues to work on new deals to strengthen the squad and provide that extra bit of quality to take Lampard’s side to the next level. The head coach worked wonders last season, turning a flat start to the opening three months into an exciting play-off push. The focus now is to go one better.
The majority of deals are likely to be thrashed out in July and August when business genuinely heats up, but Lampard will be hoping to have as many new signings in place before the 2025/26 campaign kicks off against Hull City at the CBS Arena on August 9..
Here Sky Blues reporter Andy Turner looks at the current transfer state of play:
Off the books but will more follow?
The club have already released short but sweet fan favourite Jamie Paterson, who’s joined League One Plymouth Argyle, while striker Fabio Tavares has joined Burton Albion on a permanent deal and Jack Burroughs made the switch to Northampton Town. Ryan Howley, meanwhile, is another released player to find a new club this week, joining League Two Bristol Rovers ona two year deal.
Goalkeeper Cian Tyler is another senior development player of note to have left the club and yet to find a new home – all of the above having come to the end of their contracts.
As for whether Lampard will look to move on any players who are in contract remains to be seen. But there could well be room for a bit of wheeling and dealing where some players are concerned, if the opportunity arises for City to get upgrades in certain positions.
The one name that stands out is Brad Collins who had another difficult season last term and could well be encouraged to find another club to get guaranteed game time, bearing in mind the Sky Blues are likely to draft in a new goalkeeper to compete with Ben Wilson while Oliver Dovin remains out injured until the New Year at the earliest.
In terms of loans, development midfielder Isaac Moore this week went out on a season-long deal with non-league Forest Green Rovers, now managed by Robbie Savage.
Will Lampard have cash to spend?
It’s unclear exactly how much money Lampard will have at his disposal for new signings this summer, but it’s fairly safe to assume that given Doug King’s ambitions to get to the Premier League that the head coach will be backed in the transfer market.
Documents published at Companies House show that Coventry City’s parent company (COVCITYCO LTD) issued £15m of new shares on May 22 last month. Explaining what that means for the Sky Blues, the country’s prominent football finance expert Kieran Maguire, of Liverpool University, told CoventryLive: “It looks as if it’s a fresh investment of £15million quid that’s been put into the club. It could be from Doug King himself or it could mean he’s found a new partial investor. We don’t know. But it could be fresh money to be used to pay the bills over the summer, the transfer kitty and so on.”
Elsewhere, City are still waiting on a big Viktor Gyokeres move from Sporting Lisbon which will provide another boost to the transfer coffers from a 10 percent sell-on clause, which CoventryLive this week confirmed remains in place.Depending on what the Sweden star is sold for, Coventry could get anything between £3m-£4m.
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Any big sales in order to strengthen?
Part of the club’s business model is to buy promising young players with potential resale value, develop them and then sell them on for significant profit, as they did with Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer in the summer of 2023. Money was then reinvested into strengthening the squad over subsequent transfer windows.
There was no significant sale last summer but it may well be time for another this time around. Although Jack Rudoni is currently City’s most saleable asset, Lampard will want to do all he can to keep the attacking midfielder.
The head coach also rates Milan van Ewijk highly but the ambitious Dutchman has been the subject of interest in the papers over the last couple of windows and the arrival of Kaine Kesler-Hayden has fueled speculation that the 24-year-old could come into consideration. Van Ewijk added weight to that feeling when he switched agencies this week, moving to the high profile CAA Stellar group.
Ben Sheaf, too, is a player who has had plenty of interest in the past and was under consideration last summer when he was valued by some at around £10m amid interest from Ipswich, Luton and Fulham.
Milan van Ewijk is all smiles on his return for pre-season training at Coventry City
Milan van Ewijk is all smiles on his return for pre-season training at Coventry City
Any upgrades likely?
There’s been plenty of debate amongst fans and pundits about whether the club should cash in and upgrade at the top end of the pitch. Haji Wright and Ellis Simms have already been up for discussion and Brandon Thomas-Asante is another who experienced hot and cold form last season.
Any potential moves involving Wright and Simms would surely hinge on whether A, the club can get their money back or more and B, whether they can get a ready-made prolific scorer to replace them.
In the USA striker’s case, the latter may be unlikely and the 27-year-old remains a top player at Championship level despite indifferent form at times. Frank Lampard revealed this week that Wright will hopefully be available for the start of the new season but is set to miss much of the pre-season matches as he continues his recovery.
But the head coach also gave the player his vote of confidence this week when he stated: "We want to get him fit for the start of the season, hopefully, and I think it can be a big year for him. He has so much talent and I want to work with him closely and I want to see the best of him.”
Simms, meanwhile, remains a player who can frustrate, having all the attributes to bully and terrorise defenders with his power and strength but someone who Lampard admitted he needs to “poke” at times to get the best out of.
Thomas-Asante, meanwhile, has exceptional pace but, again, displayed fluctuating form last season.
Elsewhere in the team, there are arguments for strengthening in the centre of defence, which could mean at least one defender making way, as could be the case at left-back where Jake Bidwell and Jay Dasilva have tussled for the shirt over the last two seasons with varying degrees of success. But the arrival of Miguel Angel Brau begs the question as to whether one will be surplus to requirements this season.
Midfield is another area that could see a bit of churn if Lampard feels the need to freshen things up. Matt Grimes and Jack Rudoni are players whom he will look to build the team around, while he clearly rates Victor Torp who showed clear signs of improvement under his coaching last term.
The likes of Jamie Allen and Josh Eccles, meanwhile, are reliable midfield options and good squad players but one wonders if that’s enough for either at their very different stages of their careers where they may want more guaranteed starts.
Lampard, however, said this week that he's looking forward to continuing to work with Eccles, who is currently recovering from a knee injury suffered against Sunderland in the play-offs, believing that there is still plenty of improvement to come from the Cov Kid.
"I want him to continue from that Sunderland performance, because I think there’s a lot of uplift in him and I want to work with him, so I'm pleased to have him with us (in Portugal).”
Sheaf is another quality midfielder in City’s ranks and his future could hinge on whether he has any interest in the transfer window.
File photo dated 17-02-2025 of Sunderland's Jobe Bellingham. Jobe Bellingham has completed his big-money move to Borussia Dortmund from Sunderland in time to feature at the Club World Cup. Issue date: Tuesday June 10, 2025. PA Photo. See PA story SOCCER Sunderland. Photo credit should read Martin Rickett/PA Wire.
Jobe Bellingham has moved to Borussia Dortmund for big money (Image: PA)
Vultures circling
The biggest threat to City’s summer planning is if Rudoni is the subject of firm interest from a higher placed club. Certainly, it would take a significant fee for Doug King to even entertain any such advances. Given the seemingly inflated fee of 32million Euros (almost £27m) for Jobe Bellingham from Sunderland to Borussia Dortmund this month, it’s fair to say Coventry are in a pretty strong position regarding Rudoni whose goals and assist figures were better than the Black Cats’ star player.
Figures like that might well induce a conversation but otherwise the plan will surely be for the club to keep their star asset for at least another season, knowing that he will continue to get even better under Lampard’s guidance and hopefully help the Sky Blues achieve their promotion ambitions next season.
Newcastle United have been mentioned as admirers of Rudoni in recent months and that link cropped up again this week when the Daily Mail's Craig Hope reported: "Newcastle like Jack Rudoni at Coventry. There is a feeling the 24-year-old is the best player outside the Premier League - this is shared by many scouts I’ve spoken to - and he will be on the list of potential midfield options."
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