And with that, Coventry City are back. It's been a while, hasn't it? Yet, they finally earned promotion back to the Premier League on Friday night after a 1-1 draw with relegation-battling Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.
The Sky Blues are back in the top-flight for the first time since they were relegated in 2001. Carl Rushworth and Jack Rudoni had not yet been born when the club were last in the Premier League.
Frank Lampard was still playing for West Ham United when Coventry were relegated in the 2000/01 campaign, before he signed for Chelsea that summer.
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The former England international is now set to lead the Sky Blues into the Premier League as a manager, with prior experience in the league as a head coach with Chelsea and Everton.
Lampard has heaps of experience in the top-flight as both a player and a manager, which means that he will know exactly what kind of players he needs to avoid the drop.
The losers from Coventry City's promotion
There will be some losers from the club's promotion to the Premier League because not every player in the squad will be cut out to make it at a higher level.
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Calling them losers is harsh, because they still achieved great success this season and deserve immense credit for it, but someone like Matt Grimes may not have the skillset to adapt to fighting relegation in the top tier.
The left-footed midfield technician has been a fantastic metronome in the middle of the park for Coventry, scoring two goals and providing two assists, with his passing range and ability to dictate the tempo of matches.
However, he has not delivered goals or assists at a particularly impressive rate to suggest that he will influence games in the Premier League, and he will be in a team that will not have as much possession and will have to do more work off the ball.
Even in a dominant, promotion-winning, team this season, Grimes ranks in the bottom 8% of midfielders for how many times he has been dribbled past (30) in the Championship, which shows that opposition players find it too easy to get the better of him.
Coventry's dream first signing could replace Matt Grimes
Whilst the Sky Blues may not sell or loan out their captain in the summer, Lampard could make a dream first Premier League signing to replace Grimes as a starting option.
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Earlier this month, SportsBoom reported that Coventry are one of the teams looking at a possible deal for Aston Villa central midfielder Ross Barkley.
The ex-England international has a contract until 2027 at Villa Park, but the Premier League side are open to offers for the former Everton star.
25/26 Premier League Ross Barkley
Appearances 15
Starts 3
Goals 2
Big chances created 3
Pass accuracy 88%
Duel success rate 61%
Barkley has not had too many opportunities at Villa in the Premier League, starting three matches this season, but he has shown great promise in his minutes.
He has a higher pass accuracy than Grimes (87%) and a better duel success rate than the Coventry skipper (56%) this season, whilst playing at a higher level.
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Barkley previously stated that Lampard was an idol and role model for him as a midfielder who wanted to score goals, and he has scored twice in three starts in the top-flight this season.
The Villa midfielder has scored as many league goals as Grimes, despite his lack of regular action, and this suggests that he would be a big upgrade on the Sky Blues captain because of his proven ability in and out of possession in the Premier League.
Barkley, who has played 299 Premier League matches to date, could be Coventry's own version of Sunderland's signing of Granit Xhaka, as they brought in a vastly-experienced midfielder to anchor their side.
Ross-Barkley-Aston-Villa-Leon-Bailey
The 32-year-old star could be the dream first signing of the summer for the Sky Blues for that very reason, as they will need experienced players who know what the league is about to guide the newcomers, whilst delivering reliable performances on the pitch.
Grimes may not be able to deliver consistently good enough performances because of his lack of physicality and mobility against Premier League level midfielders, which is why Barkley could arrive as an instant upgrade in the middle of the park.
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