With Gyokeres sold to Sporting CP for £20 million and Hamer’s move to Sheffield United of the Premier League for £15 million, it has given Coventry a whole lot of cash to play with, and manager Mark Robins has been backed with what he wants and needs.
Permanent deals for Bobby Thomas, Brad Collins, Joel Latibeaudiere, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, Jay Dasilva, Milan van Ewijk and then the most eye-catching moves of the lot with a £3.5 million swoop for Everton’s Ellis Simms and the club-record £7.7 million agreement for United States international Haji Wright.
Coventry will not stop there though with their spending, as evidenced by their bid for Barnsley’s left-sided defender Liam Kitching that was turned down – believed to be in the region of an initial £2.5 million according to the Barnsley Chronicle.
With Hamer’s departure to Bramall Lane though, a more pressing matter has emerged with a need for a new energetic, creative midfield player.
Whoever that player is has massive shoes to fill and it’s likely that one player alone is not going to be able to make half of the impact that Hamer had last season, but a couple of signings in that area should do the trick.
And with that in mind, Coventry should be heading back to Barnsley – not with another offer for Kitching right now but to bring a new midfielder in in the form of Callum Styles.
Styles broke into the professional game at a very early age with Bury when he was 16 years old, making his debut for the Shakers in 2016 and playing 27 times for them before securing a move to Barnsley, who spotted his talent from an early age
After returning to Bury on loan in 2018, Styles did not really establish himself in the Tykes’ first-team until the final stages of the 2019-20 season, and despite being a natural central midfielder he found a starting spot at left wing-back under Valerien Ismael in 2020-21.
Styles flourished in that position as Barnsley made the Championship play-offs, but changes in managers during the following season saw him feature all over the park, including more advanced roles on the right wing and the number 10 role.
He stayed in the Championship in 2022 when Barnsley were relegated to League One as he secured a loan move to Millwall, but a muscle injury saw him miss months of the campaign as the Lions just missed out on the play-off spots.
Styles was in Barnsley’s starting 11 under new boss Neill Collins last weekend as they smashed Port Vale 7-0 at Oakwell in their first match of the League One season, but there’s no denying that the 23-year-old is a Championship-level talent, and his international career probably depends on him playing at least at that level.
With 12 caps for Hungary already, Styles will be a mainstay in their squad as long as he’s playing at a decent level, and Coventry could provide him with a new platform
Before heading to Millwall last year for the rest of the 2022-23 season, Styles extended his contract at Oakwell until 2025, meaning that if the Lions did not sign him permanently he would still retain his value.
Styles now has just under two years remaining on his deal in South Yorkshire, but The Athletic claimed earlier this summer when he was being linked with a reunion with Valerien Ismael at Watford that he has a release clause in his contract of £2 million.
For a full international midfielder with a few years of Championship experience at the age of 23, that could end up being a bargain in a couple of years time when he’s developed his craft even further.
And for that figure, Coventry should be all over a deal as it would also give the Sky Blues more balance in their midfield, with left-footed options somewhat lacking in that area.
Styles is energetic, has a wand of a left foot when it’s put to good use and when he is in dangerous areas, and whilst his goals and assists record may not stand out, he still has time to really add those to his game.
Before the 2021-22 season, Hamer hadn’t necessarily been a goal contribution presence, but his nine assists that year, couple with is 11-goal, 10-assist season in 2022-23 just showed what can be done in a more advanced role.
For just £2 million, Coventry would be silly to not be in the running for his services but if he continues to perform in a winning League One team then the interested parties could grow – the Sky Blues therefore need to move quick
And that is set to be followed up with club captain Ward-Prowse moving to the Hammers, with a £30 million fee agreed for the 11-cap England international and a move is expected to be completed this weekend after the 28-year-old completes a medical.
Head coach Martin could do without any more distractions heading into Southampton’s second league match of the season this weekend against Norwich City, in which they are bidding to follow up last week’s 2-1 success over Sheffield Wednesday.
Their match-winner that night at Hillsborough was Che Adams, who was benched in favour of Adam Armstrong by Martin, but he came off the bench to put Ward-Prowse’s pass into the back of the net.
Adams then captained the Saints against Gillingham in EFL Cup action earlier in the week, but it was a disaster as the League Two outfit dumped them out in the first round with a 3-1 success at the Priestfield Stadium
Premier League clubs have been interested in the Scotland international forward all summer, with Wolves, Everton and Bournemouth all credited with being in the running as well as Crystal Palace, with the Cherries reportedly having a bid turned down earlier in the window.
The amount was undisclosed as per TEAMtalk, but it looks as though the free-spending Premier League outfit are very keen to get a deal done
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