All quiet in battle to keep top stars
WITH Coventry City’s season over and the players taking some wellearned down time, fans are now eagerly awaiting news on new signings while desperately hoping the club keeps hold of their star men.
Although the transfer market doesn’t officially open until Friday, June 10, clubs are already getting their ducks in a row with plenty of deals already agreed and ready to go through officially next month.
Indeed, the Sky Blues have already been active with Jordan Shipley agreeing to join Shrewsbury Town, with the player set to sign a threeyear deal for an undisclosed fee next month.
Meanwhile, social media has been awash with speculation about City’s most saleable assets, Gustavo Hamer, Viktor Gyokeres and Callum O’hare.
Gyokeres was quoted in the Swedish press this week admitting that he knows there will be interest in him this summer, and that comes after reports earlier this month claiming Fulham are keen on taking him to Craven Cottage as competition and back-up for Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Elsewhere, the Twittersphere has been full of rumours about Brentford having made a bid for Hamer amid talk of a release clause in his contract, although the Telegraph understands that no City player has such a clause, in terms of potential buyers hitting a certain figure. So any talk of a £9.5m release clause is wrong.
City’s stance on all three of their star men has been clear ever since manager Mark Robins spoke to the board to get some “clarity” as to the way forward this summer.
The club have said they are keen to keep hold of Hamer, Gyokeres and O’hare while hoping to add strength to the squad. Only recently Robins revealed that he has three deals in the pipeline, and remains confident that he can get those signings over the line early. One of the biggest hold-ups at this time of year is the fact that most players, unless involved in the play-offs, are away on holiday at the minute.
The usual caveat applies where the club’s big three are concerned, which is that should a buyer come in with a figure that matches City’s valuation then they would be duty bound to consider it, as is the case for most football clubs.
But the good news for supporters is that, as of yesterday it remains all quiet on the bid front.
Asked if the club have received any offers, bids or inquiries for Hamer, Gyokeres or O’hare, chief executive Dave Boddy told the Telegraph: “There have been no bids at all. No inquiries or interest as yet, and long may it continue.”