5 Coventry City transfer mistakes the club must try not repeat in January 2025 | OneFootball

We took a look at 5 previous transfer mistakes that Coventry City will be looking to avoid in January

With the January transfer window just around the corner, the Coventry City hierarchy would have started planning their business and will be looking to strengthen their playing squad.

While January is a notoriously difficult month to do business in, it gives Coventry the chance to bolster their ranks in a bid to move up the Championship table, with the Sky Blues currently struggling at the wrong end of the table.

Following Mark Robins' shock sacking, it feels like a new era at the CBS Arena, and January will be the perfect time to bring new signings in to kickstart that new era.

However, Coventry have to be careful in their recruitment and can't sign players for the sake of it, as they know all too well about signings failing to live up to expectations.

With that in mind, here are the five transfer mistakes that Coventry City must not repeat in January.

Craig Bellamy

While Welshman Bellamy enjoyed a fine career, his time at Coventry City was not a highlight, and he is remembered as a flop.

He signed for the Sky Blues in a deal worth £6.5million from Norwich City in August 2000 and was seen as a replacement for Robbie Keane, but he failed to live up to expectations and was part of a side that was relegated from the Premier League.

In total, he made 37 appearances for Coventry, scoring just eight goals - certainly not worth the money paid for him.

It's clear that Bellamy didn't enjoy his time at Highfield Road, and the writing was on the wall for his departure after he criticised the club for removing him from the Wales squad ahead of World Cup qualifiers in May 2001.

Peter Ramage

Defender Peter Ramage was signed by Coventry City during the 2015/16 season after a spell with Indian outfit Kerala Blasters, and while he had experience of playing in the Premier League and Championship with Newcastle, QPR and Crystal Palace, it's clear that his best days were behind him when he joined the Sky Blues.

He played just four games before he was dropped from the squad, and he was allowed to leave on loan, joining League Two Leyton Orient on loan until the end of the season.

He left Coventry in the summer of 2016 to join American side Arizona United SC, and it's clear that his move to the CBS Arena was one that didn't quite work out.

Yakubu

Yakubu was a household name in English football thanks to spells with the likes of Everton, Middlesbrough, Portsmouth and Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League, but by the time he arrived at Coventry in 2017, it was clear he was nowhere near those levels.

The striker had been playing in China and Qatar between leaving Reading in 2015 and joining Coventry during the 2016/17 season as they looked to avoid relegation to League Two, but it was a punt that failed to pay off.

He played just 69 minutes across three games where he looked unfit, and his contract was terminated just a couple of months later in April, with the Sky Blues being relegated the following month.

Yakubu was a quality Premier League striker in his prime, but the Sky Blue Army's memories of him will be very different.

Abu Ogogo

Midfielder Abu Ogogo was signed from Shrewsbury Town in the summer of 2018 following Coventry's promotion to League One, but he made little impact at the CBS Arena.

The Arsenal youth product had a wealth of League One experience, so he was seen as a good signing, but he couldn't break into Robins' starting XI.

In total, he made just 14 appearances for Coventry, ten of which came in the league, before being allowed to join Bristol Rovers on a free transfer in January 2019, just a couple of months after signing a three-year deal at the CBS Arena.

Sometimes certain moves just don't work out for players, and it's clear that was the case with Ogogo at Coventry, struggling to replicate the form he showed elsewhere with the Sky Blues.

Marcel Hilßner

One of the most bizarre signings in recent Coventry City history, German winger Marcel Hilßner never made a single appearance for the Sky Blues' first-team.

He joined Coventry from SC Paderborn on a three-year deal in the summer of 2020 after their promotion to the Championship, and his first season saw him spend time on loan at League Two side Oldham Athletic as he looked to get up to speed with the English game.

However, that was the only time he'd feature in English football, spending time on loan with third-tier German side FSV Zwickau during the 2021/22 campaign, before struggling for minutes during the 2022/23 campaign.

He departed in January 2023 without ever playing a game for Coventry, and he's now playing in the German amateur leagues, a bizarre move all round.