“He looks like a player” – Coventry City fan pundit reacts to club’s Barnsley transfer agreement

Liam Kitching transferred from Barnsley to Coventry City on the final day of the campaign.

This piece is a part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which presents the individual viewpoints of our FLW Fan Pundits on the most recent breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings, and more.

There is palpable optimism in Coventry following their summer transfer window, and Liam Kitching’s move from Barnsley may be the biggest transfer of all.

Under Mark Robins’ watchful eye, a sizable number of new players have been brought in, including club-record signing Haji Wright, teenager Ellis Simms, and Kitching as their three most costly acquisitions. Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres left the CBS Arena for a combined fee of £36 million.

The season has been strange for the Sky Blues thus far, despite the apparent excitement surrounding Wright’s acquisition and the curiosity surrounding Simms’ transfer after he thrived for Sunderland while on loan from Everton last year.

While the club’s opening-day loss to Leicester in the dying seconds can be considered unfortunate, only one win in five games, against bottom-of-the-table Middlesbrough, has moved them to 14th place in the standings.

The signing of Kitching will be able to help Robins’ side glide through that process because it appears that they just need to click before they can fire on all cylinders.

What is Liam Kitching expected to provide for Coventry City?
Kitching, who is only 23 years old, has a wealth of EFL experience.

Kitching, who is 6 feet 3 inches tall, was let go by Leeds United in 2019 after failing to arrive at Elland Road. He started working right away with Forest Green Rovers, where he gained a transfer to Barnsley. After more than 80 league appearances, he nearly led the team to promotion at the first try before losing in the play-off final of the previous season to a Josh Windass header.

The recruitment technique Coventry will use is obvious: selling young, hungry players with some work experience and then selling them again, much like Gyokeres.

Kitching fits the criteria as a left-footed center-back who might thrive in Robins’ system and chip in with goals as well.

What has been said about Liam Kitching’s transfer to Coventry City on the terraces?
Neil Littlewood, a Coventry City fan commentator for FLW, was ecstatic with the arrival of Kitching and even predicted that the defender would start against Hull City right away following the international break.

He said to FLW, “I’m overjoyed. He’s only 23 and led Barnsley to the play-off final last year; I believe he has a tonne of potential. That demonstrates his respectworthiness and leadership abilities. Bobby Thomas, who joined this year, and he previously dated each other; this is another advantage.

He appears to be a player. He has Thomas’ ability to add to the pitch from both sides. I’m quite interested to see how he can work within the framework. I’m not certain how much we paid, but I’ve heard it’s just half of what Barnsley supporters have claimed.

We’ve put him in, but I wish we could have finished it earlier in the summer without it taking so long. I’m eager to see how he performs. Once more, he gains from the international break by spending a few weeks working out before making his debut. When we return, I believe it is inevitable that he will start the game against Hull.