“Low risk, big potential reward” – Coventry City eyeing up Brighton agreement: 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…

Coventry City are one of several Championship sides tracking Brighton and Hove Albion forward Deniz Undav.

As exclusively revealed on FLW, the Sky Blues have made loan enquiries for the forward, along with the likes of Bunrley, QPR, Sunderland, Blackburn and Norwich.

Undav has struggled for game time at Brighton since joining the club, signing for the Seagulls last January but finishing the 21/22 campaign back on loan in Belgium where they picked him up from.

It was en extremely impressive season in the Belgian top flight for the striker, netting an impressive 26 goals and also managing to bag 13 assists.

With that said, below, three of our FLW writers have offered their verdict on the links between Undav and the Sky Blues.

Justin Peach

Coventry’s last attacking signing from Brighton turned out to be a decent one to say the least with Viktor Gyokeres, so trying that formula once again is not a surprise.

The 26-year-old German is of a different profile however and arrived at the AMEX in the summer, but has so far struggled for regular game time.

He’s a player that would compliment Gyokeres as he looks to come deep for the ball and thread passes into other players, which will no doubt unlock more opportunities for the Swedish international.

Undav’s record in the Belgian top flight last season was outstanding, scoring 26 in 39 and as Burnley will attest to, there are some top-quality players in that league. It would represent a coup if Coventry were able to bring him and in Robins’ system, he could hit the levels he hit for Union St. Gilloise last season.

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Ned Holmes

Coventry City are very reliant on Viktor Gyokeres and given the interest in him, it makes sense for them to line up a potential replacement in January.

Drafting in Deniz Undav from Brighton would do just that and even if Gyokeres doesn’t leave, the 26-year-old would give Mark Robins some more forward firepower.

They could do with it as they’ll hope to be in the play-off battle when the Championship returns and their star striker would benefit from a bit more support.

Undav’s record in recent years – 45 goals and 18 assists across two seasons with Union SG – is impossible to ignore and would suggest he could be a really useful asset in the Championship.

He’s a really clever striker, capable of scoring all sorts of goals and causing real issues with his movement, and it’s no surprise there is growing interest from the Championship.

Simmey Hannifin-Donaldson

This is an interesting link because it raises the question of whether or not he is coming in to compliment Viktor Gyokeres, or replace him.

Perhaps it is a bit of both from the Sky Blues perspective – get Undav in to compliment, but at the same time, cover your back in case a huge offer arrives for Gyokeres that you just cannot resist.

Certainly Undav’s goal record in Belgium suggests he is well worth pursuing at this level for any side, and I certainly wouldn’t be put off just because things haven’t worked out at Brighton.

Indeed, this seems a low risk, big potential reward scenario for the Sky Blues or indeed any club that lands Undav in January.