"Might raise a few eyebrows" - Coventry City summer signing tipped for surprise January exit | OneFootball

FLW's Coventry City fan pundit has given his verdict on who the club should look to send out on loan in January.

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…

It has been a difficult start to life at Coventry City for striker Norman Bassette after his summer move from French side Caen.

Bassette may have scored just once in 15 senior appearances for Caen, but he clearly did enough to convince Coventry to sign him for a reported fee of between £2.1 million and £2.98 million in August.

Sky Blues manager Mark Robins said that he was "excited" to have Bassette at the club and he predicted that he would be a "brilliant addition", but he has struggled to force his way into the team during the early stages of his time at the CBS Arena.

Bassette has shown glimpses of his ability, most notably during the 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup in September, but he has made just two starts in the league so far, with the likes of Haji Wright, Ellis Simms and Brandon Thomas-Asante selected ahead of him.

After a disappointing start to the season, it has been a positive few weeks for Coventry, and they secured their second consecutive victory with a 3-0 win at Middlesbrough on Saturday to move away from the relegation zone.

Coventry City fan pundit issues surprise Norman Bassette prediction

When asked which player at the club could most benefit from a loan move in January, FLW's Coventry City fan pundit Ryan Murphy said that Robins should consider allowing Bassette to leave on a temporary basis if he cannot be guaranteed regular game-time in the second half of the season, while he also tipped academy graduate Kai Andrews for a potential exit.

"Looking at who was in the squad on Saturday, the player that would benefit from a loan move in January is Kai Andrews," Ryan said.

"He is a player who will not get much game time here right now, so it would do him the world of good to drop down a level and play more first-team football to come back stronger next season.

"This might raise a few eyebrows, and I would wait to see how he gets on between now and January, but I would say Norman Bassette.

"If he hasn't played many minutes or had much involvement between now and January, then maybe it would be more beneficial for us long-term to loan him out for the second half of the season to a lower level to get a lot more game time and hopefully goals under his belt.

"That could help him to come back stronger next season and be more of a first-team player fighting for a spot in the starting 11.

"He's showing signs of promise, so if he can get more game time between now and the end of the season, then you'd like to keep him on board, but if he isn't going to, then I think it would do him and us the world of good to send him out and get some more experience under his belt.

"As I say, that would only be assessed between now and January to see if he gets some more minutes under his belt here because if he's playing regularly, then you'd keep him.

"If not, let's look to loan him out for the second half of the season, but maybe put a recall option on him to bring him back in case we get any injuries.

"We do have quite a few strikers that are ahead of him right now."

Given Bassette's lack of senior experience, there is certainly logic in the idea of sending him out on loan in January to get some regular minutes under his belt.

Bassette is clearly viewed as a development signing by Coventry, and Robins would not have expected him to start every game immediately, but he has shown enough to suggest that he can be a useful part of the squad this season if he remains at the CBS Arena.

It will be tough for Bassette to break into the team ahead of Wright, Simms and Thomas-Asante, but Simms picked up an injury that forced him to miss Saturday's win at Middlesbrough, highlighting just how quickly Robins' attacking options could be depleted with a busy fixture schedule to come over the winter period.

With that in mind, it would make sense for Robins to keep hold of Bassette, and as he continues to adapt to the Championship, he could play an increasingly important role for the Sky Blues over the course of the campaign.