City keep tabs on Hammers kid Marcus
COVENTRY City are keeping a close eye on West Ham teenager Marcus Browne as they draw up their wish list of New Year loan recruits.
The speedy midfielder, who turned 19 on Sunday, caught the eye of Tony Mowbray and Mark Venus with a high-energy display during City’s 4-2 EFL Trophy win against the Londoners’ Under-23 side in August, prompting the challenge that earned Dion Kelly-Evans a second yellow card.
He also played in the Checkatrade ties against Wycombe Wanderers and Northampton Town, having made his first-team bow as a substitute in the Europa League match against Astra Giurgiu.
City representatives checked him out again at Telford on Monday night as he produced another sparkling display in the young Hammers’s 4-0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers, forcing a penalty for one of their goals.
The Sky Blues have already established a link with West Ham after bringing Lewis Page to the Ricoh on a short-term deal which is due to expire in January. Their other current loan players are Chris McCann, who flies out to a new career with Atlanta United next month, LA Galaxy prospect Jack McBean, young strikers Dan Agyei and Andre Wright and Newcastle Unite fullback Jamie Sterry.
The decision on whether to try to extend those arrangements, of course, will hinge on who they bring in as their new manager, possibly before the Boxing Day trip to Bristol Rovers when they will be attempting to reverse a run of four consecutive League One defeats.
Former Sky Blues striker Lukas Jutkiewicz is joining Birmingham City from Burnley in a deal worth around £1million.
The 27-year-old has notched six goals in 20 matches since arriving at St Andrew’s on loan and has agreed to accept a contract that will take him through until 2020. It will be officially completed when the transfer window opens at the end of the month.
Gianfranco Zola, who was drafted in for the ditched Gary Rowett last week, endorsed the move after Jutkiewicz scored in the 2-1 defeat against Brighton, saying: “He scored a great goal but also his performance was magnificent – he helped the team throughout the game. Lukas is an important player for us. We will try everything we can to keep him with us if we can.
Jutkiewicz started his career with Swindon before he made the step up with Everton in 2007 but he only made one professional start for the Toffees before signing for Coventry in July 2010.
He scored nine league goals during his first season at the Ricoh Arena and had managed nine from 25 games for Andy Thorn’s Sky Blues before was sold to Middlesbrough in January 2012 for an initial fee of £1.3million rising to £2.3million.
His time at the Riverside was mixed with 11 goals in 64 games, but an impressive loan spell with Bolton Wanderers helped him secure a £1.5million move to Premier League Burnley. Lukas Jutkiewicz.