“The four players from Coventry City who will be free agents come summertime’

The four players from Coventry City who will be free agents come summertime

The four players from Coventry City who will be free agents come summertimeCoventry City underwent a significant transformation in the summer transfer window, with manager Mark Robins able to bolster his team thanks to the sales of Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer.

When Sporting Clube de Portugal paid around £20 million to sign the Swede, Gyokeres became the Sky Blues’ club record sale. A month later, Hamer left for Sheffield United for a fee of £15 million.

Gyokeres and Hamer’s contracts were set to expire in the summer of 2024, thus Cov had to persuade them to stay longer at the CBS Arena or make a profit. They chose to do the latter.

However, what about the players whose contracts ARE going to expire at the end of June 2019? Let’s look at the four Robins team members who will be leaving if their contracts are not renewed.

O’Hare would likely be Coventry’s most valuable asset at the moment if he had a long-term deal and hadn’t experienced any injuries in the previous 12 months or more.

O’Hare, who attended the Aston Villa academy, signed a loan deal with the Sky Blues in 2019 and played a significant role in their promotion-winning team in the 2019–20 season. Before the COVID-19 season was halted and the Sky Blues advanced via points per game, O’Hare scored six goals.

O’Hare has been a creative sensation for Coventry at the Championship level, and Burnley was interested in him last summer. Vincent Kompany made a major move to try and recruit the small midfield player.

Any possible sale was dashed, though, by a catastrophic hamstring injury that kept him out of action until the 2022–2023 season began. When O’Hare did play again in October 2022, he only played 11 games before sustaining a devastating knee injury before the season ended.

O’Hare’s season was stopped by that, and he hasn’t been seen since. It’s unlikely that he will be in top form when he eventually returns to competitive play, which is predicted to happen very soon.

And because there could not be anything on the table until O’Hare establishes his fitness, that uncertainty could be the reason he hasn’t signed a new contract yet.

Although it would be terrible if the 25-year-old didn’t return as the same player, there needs to be assurance that he has not lost any of his skills.

 

Kelly is the longest-serving player in Mark Robins’ squad, having been there since Coventry’s League Two days, and at thirty-three, he’s still got it.

Due to various ailments, the seasoned midfield player’s playing time has decreased in recent years. However, in 2023–2024, he will be starting frequently in the engine room.

It would be shocking if Kelly didn’t receive a one-year contract extension if he could demonstrate at the end of the season that he still has enough to give.

McFadzean, another seasoned member of the Sky Blues team, has appeared to get stronger with age and has led the Robins’ defence for several seasons since his arrival in 2019.

The 36-year-old has been a constant at the back when healthy, but you have to wonder how long the tough defender with a second-tier career has left.

McFadzean may still have one more season left, but Coventy brought in younger centre backs this summer, so there’s a chance he will play fewer games going forward.

 

Signed to compete with Ben Wilson in 2021, Moore was the first-choice stopper in his rookie season. However, after Brad Collins joined the team, Wilson seized Moore’s spot in the early going of 2022–2023. As a result, Moore is currently third-choice.

Moore is not likely to play a significant role for the Sky Blues in the near future, thus it is unlikely that he would sign a new contract unless he is content to remain the third man on the pitch.