Coventry City suffer late transfer blow - Frank Lampard sees bid rejected | OneFootball

The Sky Blues have once again been thwarted in their aims of adding defensive depth

Coventry City have seen an early Deadline Day bid rejected for the services of Bodo/Glimt centre-back Villads Nielsen, as Frank Lampard looks to add further defensive depth to his squad.

The Sky Blues have been among the Championship's early-season pace-setters and remain the division's top scorers with a return of 14 goals from the opening four encounters, but have continuously been on the lookout for new bodies in their defensive department as they look to continue challenging for promotion.

City have actively looked to continue bringing fresh faces to the CBS Arena ahead of the upcoming four-month period of uninterrupted action, with centre-back a clear area of priority as we head towards Monday night's 7PM deadline.

However, after once again being thwarted in their ambitions of prizing away Charlie Hughes from divisional rivals, Hull City, the West Midlands side will have to respond to yet another setback if the aforementioned Nielsen is to move across Europe in the coming hours.

Coventry City see late transfer window bid for Bodo/Glimt centre-back Villads Nielsen turned down

So far this window, Coventry have made a total of just three acquisitions - all of which have come in the defensive and goalkeeping departments in the form of Carl Rushworth, Kaine Kesler-Hayden and Miguel Angel Brau.

The club also lost the services of the highly-rated Luis Binks to Danish Superliga outfit Brondby earlier in the window, and have actively searched for a replacement despite several knockbacks in recent weeks.

City submitted three separate bids for the aforementioned Hughes, with the most recent of those coming in at a figure of £10m. However, this was swiftly rejected by Hull, and they have also failed to lure Luke Woolfenden of Ipswich Town to make a move across the Championship up to this point.

Speaking after his side's 2-2 draw with Oxford United on Saturday afternoon, when asked if he would have all the required tools across his squad to continue a highly-respectable start to the campaign, Lampard responded: “We’ll see."

However, according to a fresh update from Pete O'Rourke via X on Monday morning, the Sky Blues have seen a bid - the amount of which hasn't been disclosed - rejected by the Norwegian Eliteserien leaders, Bodo/Glimt, for the services of Nielsen.

The update states that last season's UEFA Europa League semi-finalists are looking to retain the 20-year-old's services ahead of their upcoming UEFA Champions League 'League Phase' campaign, which begins on 17th September away to Slavia Prague.

The Danish youth international has made 34 appearances for Bodo, scoring on one occasion after joining the club in March 2024 from FC Nordsjælland.

At present, Lampard only has three natural centre-backs on his books in the form of Bobby Thomas - who has been the subject of interest from Sheffield United and Brentford - Liam Kitching and Joel Latibeaudiere.

Whilst it would remain a success for the ex-Chelsea boss if the former Burnley man remains at the CBS, it would also be a major source of frustration should another centre-back not come into the building, especially if one of the aforementioned names was to suffer an injury issue later in the campaign.

Hull City made their stance regarding Hughes extremely clear in the window, meaning some Coventry supporters would also be left feeling annoyed that they have moved on to other targets at such a late stage.

It remains to be seen if the Sky Blues return with another bid for the highly-rated Nielsen as Lampard looks to land a late transfer coup.