Football League World
·4 August 2023
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·4 August 2023
Coventry City are continuing their preparations for the new Championship season.
The Sky Blues enjoyed an excellent campaign last season, but they suffered heartbreak as they lost on penalties to Luton Town in the play-off final at Wembley in May.
Coventry have lost star striker Viktor Gyokeres, who has joined Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon for a fee of close to £20 million, while the likes of Josh Reid, Fankaty Dabo, Julien Dacosta, Todd Kane, Sean Maguire, Michael Rose, Martyn Waghorn and Tyler Walker have also departed the club.
But Mark Robins has been provided with significant funds in the transfer market and there have been a number of incomings, with Ellis Simms, Jay Dasilva, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, Brad Collins, Joel Latibeaudiere, Bobby Thomas, Milan van Ewijk and Luis Binks arriving at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
The Sky Blues get their season underway with a tough trip to face Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Sunday and as the countdown to kick-off continues, we rounded up all the latest news from the club.
Leeds United plotting Hamer move
We exclusively revealed in June that Leeds United were considering an ambitious move for Coventry midfielder Gustavo Hamer following their relegation to the Championship and according to Football Insider, the Whites are "monitoring the situation" of the 26-year-old.
Newly-promoted Premier League side Burnley reportedly had an offer of £8 million plus Thomas and Luke McNally for Hamer rejected last month, while Fulham and Nottingham Forest are also said to be keen.
£15 million for his services this summer.
It would be a huge coup for Leeds to land Hamer's signature as they look for an instant Premier League return, but it remains to be seen whether his high valuation could price them out of a move.
Hamer has one year remaining on his contract at the Coventry Building Society Arena, and he is yet to put pen-to-paper on an extension, with Robins admitting this week that the midfielder's future is uncertain.
"I think everyone wants him to stay and it’s down to Gus, but at the end of the day he’s a human being and has got his own ideas," Robins told CoventryLive.
"He’s been brilliant for us. I think, really, we have got to try and keep hold of him if we can but as I have said before, it’s really in his hands.
"We want to keep him, the supporters have made their voices clear today. I don’t know how Gus feels about that but he’s someone who just takes things in his stride and has a really good rapport with them and all the staff and players.
"Whatever happens, if he ends up moving on, it will hurt him for a while, there’s no doubt about that because he will miss it; everything that we have done together. But you have to look and say he has been phenomenal for us for three years and got better and better each season.
"And last season he single-handedly, really, got us into play-off contention and promotion contention, so his performances are incredible. Everyone saw that today when he came on. His quality and energy is something that we crave; we need and should that go then we need to replace that, if that’s what we have to do.
"Again, it’s still all to play for. It’s still up in the air, but that situation needs resolving quickly."
Sky Blues sign USA international
Coventry have already bolstered their front line with the addition of Simms from Everton, and they have spent big once again.
The club announced on Friday night that they had bough USA international Haji Wright from Antalyaspor for a record fee, which is around an initial £7.7m.
Wright scored 16 goals and registered three assists in 29 appearances in all competitions for the Turkish outfit last season, and he will become Coventry's club record signing.