Coventry City told to take double loan action on attacking pair - Striker could be "something special" | OneFootball

FLW's Coventry fan pundit has named which players the club should send out on loan this summer

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Coventry City are preparing for another season in the Championship as they eye promotion to the Premier League.

This is Frank Lampard’s first summer in charge of the Sky Blues, having taken over in November of last year.

The 47-year-old led the club to a top six finish, with the team coming fifth in the table before missing out on a place in the top flight with an agonising semi-final play-off defeat to Sunderland.

Lampard will be hoping to use this summer to better shape the squad to his liking, with incomings and outgoings expected between now and the 1 September deadline.

Norman Bassette, Coventry City loan claim

When asked which player the club should send out on loan this summer, FLW’s Coventry fan pundit Chris Deez named Norman Bassette.

He believes the forward hasn’t been given many opportunities to prove himself at the CBS Arena, and that a temporary exit could be what he needs. Bassette, who has been capped once at senior international level by Belgium, made 25 Championship appearances in his opening season in the West Midlands but scored just twice and fell down Lampard's pecking order later in the campaign.

Still aged just 20, Bassette remains a promising talent but has been linked with a move back to Belgium amid reported interest from both Anderlecht and Standard Liege.

“The easy and obvious answer here would be Norman Bassette,” Deez told Football League World.

“We, as a fanbase, really like the man, but we’ve not seen nearly enough of him, which is strange because obviously we have our goal-scoring issues last season and Lampard has spoken very highly of Bassette and his determination, his passion, his attitude, his desire to get more minutes.

“But we’ve not even really that much of him on the bench, so I don’t really know what’s going on there.

“Maybe they’ve had a falling out or something.

“Teams in Belgium have shown an interest in taking him on loan, so I hope that happens.

“Maybe just for six months, see how we get on, bring him back if we need to, if not extend it for the full season.

“There’s quite clearly a player there, quite clearly a good, young, passionate player that we can mould and turn into something special.

“But, for whatever reason, he’s just not got the chance.”

Coventry City told to loan out Raphael Borges Rodrigues

Deez also named Raphael Borges Rodrigues as a player that should be sent out on loan due to his lack of game time.

The winger joined from Australian top-flight side Macarthur FC last summer but was afforded next to no opportunities in his debut campaign in English football, racking up a grand total of just 8 minutes of Championship action.

Coventry supporters are keen to see Rodrigues' long-term potential realised, which could begin with him heading out on loan to play regular football.

“I think I have to mention Raphael as well, the young winger who has seen even less game time than Bassette has,” he continued.

“Neither of them were brought in by Lampard obviously, they were Robins signings, so can’t fully blame Lampard for it all.

“But I would’ve liked to have seen some more game time for Raphael.

“He’s another player, just like Bassette, that Lampard spoke really highly of on a number of occasions.

“But we’ve basically seen the square root of nothing out of the lad.”

Coventry begin their season with a clash at home against Hull City on 9 August.

Bassette loan should depend on pre-season development

Bassette is still only 20 years old and has the potential to grow in importance at Coventry over the next 12 months.

Lampard should be taking a close look at his performances this season, and could even give him the first few games of the campaign to prove himself at this level.

Going out on loan and getting consistent minutes would be good, but if he can play well in the opening weeks then maybe he’ll earn his way into the Sky Blues’ plans.