Ipswich and Swansea may be feeling thankful that multi-million pound transfer never happened: View | OneFootball

Highlights

Ellis Simms' summer move from Everton to Coventry City for an undisclosed fee, thought to be around £8m, was seen as a move that would take both Simms and the Sky Blues to the next level.

However, it hasn't quite worked out that way with Simms struggling to find the back of the net, and last season's losing play-off finalists lingering in 20th place in the Championship table.

The striker attracted summer interest from Ipswich Town and Swansea City, according to Football Insider and Wales Online, but made the multi-million pound move to the West Midlands in a bid to fire the club to the Premier League.

The Tractor Boys currently find themselves 2nd in the league after a fantastic start to the season, while Swansea are 14th, six places above Coventry.

With that in mind, both teams are probably relieved that they missed out on the ex-Everton man. Swansea instead bringing in Jamal Lowe and Jerry Yates who've been solid without being exceptional, and Ipswich recruiting George Hirst and Dane Scarlett.

How has Ellis Simms performed for Coventry City this season?

Despite playing 15 league games this season, he's bagged just two goals.

Both of these goals came in the September win away at QPR, meaning that he's failed to score in 14 of the league games he's played this season.

Out of those 15 games, Simms has started nine of them and has been brought off the bench in the other six games. Given Simms' promising form on loan at Sunderland last season, it's a bit of a surprise he's been struggling to find the back of the net this season.

According to Sofascore, the striker is under-performing his expected goals, with just two goals out of an xG of 3. He's had a successful dribble rate of just 31%, won just 29% of all duels, loses possession an average of six times a game and has missed six big chances this season.

These stats make grim reading for both the player and the club, who would have expected a better return given the fee they paid Everton.

There is no doubt that Simms can be a quality player.

He showed this during his time at Sunderland where he scored seven goals in 17 games as a 21-year-old, impressing so much that Everton re-called him in a bid to avoid relegation to the Premier League. During his time on Merseyside he scored just once in 11 Premier League games for the Toffees, that goal coming in impressive fashion, a solo goal away to Chelsea sealing a vital point in the club's survival bid.

Why did Simms join Coventry City?

The striker joined the club as a replacement for Sporting Lisbon-bound Viktor Gyokeres. Simms was always going to have big boots to fill given that the Swedish striker scored 43 goals in all competitions for the Sky Blues across two-and-a-half seasons at the Coventry Building Society Arena.

Despite a host of clubs being interested in the striker, he joined the Sky Blues after being impressed with manager Mark Robins.

Speaking to Coventry City's media team he said, "The conversation I had with the manager. He showed great belief in me and the Club as a whole are on the way up and it seems like it will be a big season or us."

Can Simms turn it around at Coventry?

Given his previous goal-scoring records at EFL clubs like Blackpool and Sunderland, there's no doubt that there's a player there who's capable of bagging goals.

With Coventry's poor form and Simms' lack of goals, it's been a perfect storm for Coventry fans at the start of the season. With his confidence seemingly low at the moment, the striker will be hoping to break his goal draught in the near future. If he's able to build up some confidence there's no reason why he can't replicate the form he showed at Sunderland last season.