DON Goodman insists Coventry City must recruit well this summer to bridge the ‘massive gulf in quality’ between the Premier League and the Championship.
Sky Sports pundit Goodman believes Coventry will model their recruitment on the examples of Sunderland and Leeds United who both comfortably avoided relegation as promoted clubs in 2025/26.
Sunderland spent in excess of £200million and secured a place in the UEFA Europa League while Leeds spent significantly less but recruited players with top-level experience.
And Goodman believes the Sky Blues will look to strike a balance between targeting young players with potential and those with experience of the Premier League when signing players this summer.
Goodman told sports betting site talkSPORT Bet: “It will all come down to, I’ll say it again, recruitment, recruitment, recruitment. They must get it right, or else they’ll very quickly find themselves right back in the Championship almost instantaneously.
“Sunderland went massive when they went up, and Coventry will have looked at how they did it.
“I suspect Coventry wouldn’t want to commit that huge amount of money on players, but they will also have looked at the way Leeds did it, which was probably spending roughly half of what Sunderland did.
“What Leeds also did, though, was attract some seasoned Premier League experience.
“I think Coventry need to look at a balance between bringing in that top-flight experience alongside young potential.
“Coventry will know they desperately need to get this window right. I think they would accept that with the exact same squad of players, it would be over fairly quickly.
“Believe me, I’m not saying that to be disparaging, I’m just saying there is a massive gulf in quality unless you get your recruitment spot on.
“It can be done, and it was great to see Leeds and Sunderland survive comfortably in the end. I think football needed that, the Premier League needed that, and the Championship needed that.
“All of Coventry’s planning now will be focused entirely on recruitment, who they can attract, who they can get, and at what cost.
“As I said, I think it will be a balanced approach, but they will know that they’re going to need to spend a significant amount of money.”
Coventry boss Frank Lampard extended his contract with the Sky Blues until 2029 following reported interest in the City boss from other Premier League clubs.
And Goodman believes Lampard’s knowledge and experience of the Premier League will aid the Sky Blues in their quest for survival.
Goodman added: “It’s great to see Frank Lampard commit his future because he had been linked with other Premier League opportunities.
“It will be a big relief for the fans and the club that he’s signed a new deal.
“You have to remember, this is a man who knows the Premier League like the back of his hand, and that has to be a massive help.”