"A difficult situation" - Coventry City face decision over Leicester and Southampton target: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Callum O’Hare is attracting plenty of transfer interest ahead of the 1 February transfer deadline next week.

According to Tom Collomosse, Burnley, Leicester City and Southampton are among the clubs monitoring his situation.

The Coventry City midfielder made his return to full fitness at the end of 2023 and has cemented his position as a key part of Mark Robins’ side.

However, O’Hare’s contract is set to expire at the end of the campaign, meaning he could walk away from the club in the summer for nothing.

O'Hare holds all the cards

It has been reported that the 25-year-old has been offered a new deal, but no agreement has yet been reached.

Here we ask our FLW writers their verdict on whether the Sky Blues should cash in on O’Hare this month, and weigh up how much he is worth…

Declan Harte

This situation has changed a lot in the last month or so given Coventry’s impressive form.

O’Hare has been at the heart of the club’s rise back up the Championship table, and they now occupy a play-off place.

If the Sky Blues were still stuck in mid-table and promotion looked unlikely then cashing in for £8 to 10 million or so would have been a reasonable decision.

But they are now one of the in-form sides in the entire division and have a real shot at reaching the play-offs once again.

On that basis, it might be worthwhile gambling on that promotion push and holding firm on O’Hare.

In that time, they could still try and tempt the midfielder to remain at the CBS Arena and going up to the top flight would be the most convincing argument of all.

It’s a difficult situation for the club as O’Hare holds all the cards, but keeping him beyond January is starting to feel like the best option.

Otherwise, replacing him and maintaining a top six place would prove a very difficult task as we have seen first-hand this year what impact his return back to the side has had.

Ned Holmes

It would be gutting to see him leave for nothing in the summer but unless a massive offer comes in, they have to keep hold of him.

The Sky Blues have been one of the best sides in the Championship since his return and for my money, have a fantastic chance to go one better than they did last term and win promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs this term.

Coventry were trending up anyway but O'Hare's return has been the catalyst for their season to really catch fire and he's integral to the recent success that they've been having.

It doesn't look as though the 25-year-old is going to put pen to paper on a contract extension before the end of the season and even then it will likely rely on them reaching the top flight.

That's obviously a risk to take but Coventry have to gamble as they look well set to mount a serious promotion charge as the second half of the season goes on.

You can see why the likes of Burnley, Leicester and Southampton are keen but it would be a surprise to see any of them make an offer big enough to convince the Sky Blues to sell when O'Hare will be available in the summer anyway.