"Exactly what we needed" - Coventry City transfer regret expressed over current Sunderland AFC man | OneFootball

FLW's Coventry City fan pundit regrets his club failing to sign Alan Browne in the 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's transfer miss of experienced Championship midfielder Alan Browne back in the summer has been pointed out as a real regret for the club.

The 2024/25 Championship campaign has hardly gone according to plan for the Sky Blues, who are 17th in the league table and without a manager heading into this month's two-week international break.

It would've been extremely difficult to predict Coventry finding themselves in such a predicament at the start of the season, with expectation high following a summer of investment off the back of a run all the way to last term's FA Cup semi-finals.

There are a number of regrets which Coventry arguably should have, and the obvious one at this moment in time is the decision to part ways with Mark Robins, who is widely-regarded as a modern day legend at the CBS Arena and had been the EFL's longest-serving manager before seeing his seven-year association with the Sky Blues brought to an abrupt end less than a week ago.

However, another regret is seemingly their failure to sign Alan Browne, who had been a reported target back in the summer transfer window.

Coventry City missed out on a transfer for Alan Browne in summer of 2024

Back in the summer, it was reported by The Sun's Alan Nixon that Coventry were interested in striking a deal for Browne alongside Sheffield United and Sunderland.

The experienced midfielder had become a free agent after leaving Preston North End, who submitted a 'record contract offer' in a bid to keep him at Deepdale, and had a host of Championship clubs interested in his signature.

Having been a stalwart at second-tier level for so many years at Preston, the acquisition of Browne would've been a coup for many and Sunderland eventually won the race, adding him to their ranks for Regis Le Bris' first season in charge.

Browne has had to settle for a rotational role at Sunderland, who are top of the league after 15 matches and boast one of the Championship's most competitive midfield ranks.

He's been unable to make more than six starts amid competition from young trio Chris Rigg, Jobe Bellingham and skipper Dan Neil, although he has started each of Sunderland's last three matches.

Verdict offered on Coventry City's Alan Browne transfer regret

We asked our Sky Blues fan pundit, Ryan Murphy, to name one player Coventry were linked with but regrettably failed to sign, and he opted for a recent example by going with Browne.

Akin to Sunderland, Coventry have a young squad and a youthful midfield, and Ryan believes that the Republic of Ireland international's extensive experience would've been highly beneficial for his side.

"One player that was tipped and heavily linked, and I believe the club were in talks with, was Alan Browne from Preston, who then went on to join Sunderland this summer," Ryan told Football League World.

"He's exactly what we needed and exactly what we are missing. An experienced head in the middle, in the spine of the team. He's gone and kicked on at Sunderland and that obviously looks like a very good move for him now, with them sat at the top of the table.

"You could see his experience when we played against them on Saturday.

"Now he's a player we definitely should've done more to have got, but maybe Sunderland offered too much money and he was more excited to join them over us.

"But yeah, he's what we are missing - experience, because we have too many young players, and with young players you get inconsistency. So that's the regret there."