Coventry City will no doubt be expected to have yet another strong Championship campaign next term, but will hope to loan out some of their brightest young stars.
The Sky Blues’ rapid rise under the management of Mark Robins has been well-documented, particularly since they returned to the second tier. However, after losing star duo Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer last summer, they made a slow start to the season and took a small step backwards in their progress.
There remains great excitement surrounding the Sky Blues after a season which saw them come within a penalty shoot-out of the FA Cup final after staging a memorable comeback in the semi-final against Manchester United, coming back from a 3-0 deficit to draw 3-3 in normal time before losing on penalties.
Robins led his team to the play-offs in the 2022/23 campaign, where they agonisingly lost on penalties again at Wembley, albeit this time to Luton Town. Having lost the play-off final Coventry would have hoped to challenge again, but fell short of the top six last term, finishing ninth in the Championship, and nine points adrift of sixth-placed Norwich.
Given, however, that Coventry sat as low as 20th in the table in late November, the significant upturn in form in the second half of the season that saw them emerge as top six contenders means they do take momentum into the summer and next term.
| Championship standings 2023/24 | ||||
| Team | P | GD | Pts | |
| 4 | Southampton | 46 | 24 | 87 |
| 5 | West Brom | 46 | 23 | 75 |
| 6 | Norwich City | 46 | 15 | 73 |
| 7 | Hull City | 46 | 8 | 70 |
| 8 | Middlesbrough | 46 | 9 | 69 |
| 9 | Coventry City | 46 | 11 | 64 |
| 10 | Preston North End | 46 | -11 | 63 |
| 11 | Bristol City | 46 | 2 | 62 |
| 12 | Cardiff City | 46 | -17 | 62 |
Robins has since started his summer rebuild, with senior players such as Simon Moore and Liam Kelly departing at the end of their contracts, and midfielder Callum O’Hare is also likely to be moving after rejecting the offer of a new deal.
However, there are some prospects within the ranks at the CBS Arena who could benefit from a season away on loan to further their development, and FLW looks into a number of those below.
Kai Andrews
Kai Andrews is someone who spent the majority of the 2023/24 campaign on the periphery of the first-team picture at the CBS Arena, but could be about to make his full breakthrough onto the scene. He signed his first professional contract with the club back in January, after making his maiden first-team appearance as a substitute for Matty Godden in a 3-0 victory over Middlesbrough last August.
It seems rather difficult for Andrews to oust either Ben Sheaf or Victor Torp from the starting XI, but given the recent departure of Liam Kelly, expect the youngster who was named on the bench 15 times last season to make a greater impression in the upcoming campaign, or to be loaned out, with developmental minutes perhaps more beneficial at this stage of his career, especially whilst he may be the club’s most promising prospect currently.
Evan Eghosa
Evan Eghosa signed his first professional contract with the club in August of last year and has largely languished in the U-21 side for the last few seasons, but the versatile midfielder is now ready for professional football at some level this summer. He signed a two-year deal with the Sky Blues off the back of an impressive season for the U-21s.
During that, he established himself as an important player in John Dempster’s side, who reached the final of the Birmingham Senior Cup. His impressive 2022/23 campaign saw him rewarded with a pre-season spent training in the first-team, but he should expect football somewhere within the footballing pyramid in 2024/25.
Ryan Howley
A youth product of the Coventry City academy since the age of six, Ryan Howley signed his first professional contract with the club way back in November 2020. He then followed that up by winning the EFL Championship Apprentice of the Season for the 2021/22 season.
He has already tasted first-team football with Coventry, having played eight times for the club, and then spent last year at Dundee FC, where he made 14 appearances.
The 20-year-old is another midfielder whose path to regular minutes for the Sky Blues looks blocked right now and will likely to need another loan again before he is ready to impact games for them meaningfully.
Justin Obikwu
Coventry striker Justin Obikwu agreed a new contract with the Sky Blues back in January and then completed a loan move to League Two side Grimsby Town until the end of the season. He played 16 times, scoring three times, and can perhaps expect another shot at fourth-tier football in 2024/25.
Obikwu signed his first professional contract in July 2023, and found the back of the net in Coventry’s first pre-season fixture against Forest Green Rovers last year, adding the fourth in a 4-0 win. He is a regular trainer with the first-team and has been in the first-team matchday squad on a number of occasions this campaign, but is yet to feature in a game.
Isaac Moore
Isaac Moore signed his first professional contract with Coventry in the summer of 2023 but spent much of last year recovering from an ACL injury he suffered at the back end of the 2022/23 season.
He has had success in the U-21 team and is another player likely to need a temporary switch away from the club in order to fulfill his potential at some stage.
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