DEAL ON : Coventry City interested in 5-goal Bulgaria-based striker

Coventry City are expressing an interest in Belgian striker Mitchy Ntelo, according to reports.

In recent times, the Sky Blues have held great success stories among their ranks in attacking areas, with the likes of the highly-reputable Viktor Gyokeres building his stock at the West Midlands outfit before moving to Sporting CP, where the Portuguese outfit currently hold a reported €100 million release clause.

It took the Swede’s replacements – Ellis Simms and Haji Wright – a reasonable amount of time to adjust to Mark Robins’ philosophy, before both centre-forwards ended the season in fine form, with the former Everton man netting 13 times in the Championship, whilst Wright accumulated 16 goals, with both also key in the Sky Blues’ well-documented FA Cup run.

And, whilst both enter the upcoming second tier season off the back of strong form, Robins is continuing his search to add further numbers to his already impressive squad.

Coventry City linked with Lokomotiv Plovdiv forward Mitchy Ntelo

That is because a report on Thursday has linked Coventry with a potential swoop for Belgian striker Mitchy Ntelo, who currently plies his trade for Bulgarian First Professional Football League outfit, Lokomotiv Plovdiv.

The revelations come from Belgian reporter, Sacha Tavolieri via Twitter, with the claim also stating that the second tier side are set to face competition for his signature from clubs across the continent.

Tavolieri states that his current employers will demand a fee in the region of €1.2 million – which equates to approximately £1.02 million – given the interest showcased in the 23-year-old.

The report states that Coventry are “very interested” in acquiring the Belgian’s services, and have therefore placed him on a list of potential incomings across the summer transfer window.

However, this has been rivaled by Russian outfit FC Khimki, who made their return to the Russian Premier League after winning the First Division last season, with Tavolieri stating the club have registered an opening bid in the region of €700,000, which falls short of Plovdiv’s reported valuation.

Mitchy Ntelo’s career so far

Obviously, Ntelo will be an unknown to a vast majority of Coventry supporters, but he has enjoyed a relatively fruitful beginning to his professional career since progressing through the youth system of Zulte Waregem and Standard Liège.

The one-time Belgium Under-19 international was initially sent out on loan to MVV Maastricht, where he scored 10 times in 34 Eerste Divisie appearances, before joining Sporting Charleroi in August 2022, linking up with the club’s ‘Zebra Elites’ squad who featured in the 1ste Nationale division, accumulating four goals in 31 appearances.

Ntelo then made a minor breakthrough into Charleroi’s first-team plans at the beginning of last season, making a further four appearances, all of which came from the substitutes’ bench.