FORWARD THINKING
ATTACKING OPTIONS CITY BOSS COULD CONSIDER IN JANUARY...
THE Sky Blues face a busy start to the New Year with Coventry City boss Mark Robins having an eye on players he wants to bring through the door at Ryton-on-Dunsmore.
One area that the Sky Blues have struggled to make tick this campaign has been their quest for goals.
Nobody inside League One’s top ten have scored fewer than fifth placed Coventry who could be weighing up a move for a striker during the transfer window.
But who is available? We take a look at some of the names who could find themselves linked with the Sky Blues during January.
FOLARIN BALOGUN - ARSENAL
When Arsenal strikers Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were both out injured for their Carabao Cup clash with
Nottingham Forest in September, Unai Emery named teenager Folarin Balogun on the bench.
The 18-year-old has climbed the youth ranks with electric pace, scoring 25 goals in 19 games for the under-18s last season. And he has started in the same style for Arsenal’s development side this term too, finding the net seven times in his first nine matches with a goal every 107 minutes. Should the Gunners want to see him take his game to the next level then they could be tempted to find him a loan club in January, just as they did with youngster Chuba Akpom when he arrived at the Ricoh Arena back in 2014.
Akpom may not have proved a hit, but Balagun could well be.
GEORGE THOMAS - LEICESTER
It is unlikely that Leicester City would let George Thomas, Coventry City’s Checkatrade Trophy hero, return in anything more than a loandeal, but his Foxes future is looking more and more uncertain by the day.
Last term he was shipped out on loan to League One with Scunthorpe United but struggled for service in an Iron side that was poor enough to be relegated at the end of the season.
Since then he has been a regular for Leicester’s under-23s side during their Premier League 2 campaign, scoring one and assisting two in nine games playing as either a right winger or a number ten.
Due to Premier League squad rules, he is currently ineligible to make an appearance for his side’s first team side so could only back first team minutes away from the King Power Stadium.
DANNY ROSE - MANSFIELD
The Sky Blues have been linked with Mansfield Town’s Danny Rose a number of times in the past with Robins said to be keen on the striker.
He has been prolific for the Stags since joining from Bury in 2016 and has hit the ground running once again this season in League Two.
The 25-year-old has scored seven in 14 games in a number ten role, directly contributing to a third of Mansfield’s total goals.
And he could be available at a bargain price with him contract set to expire in the summer.
DOMINIC SAMUEL - BLACKBURN
Dominic Samuel was a big hit with Sky Blues fans during his time with City, but his game time has been limited recently.
He joined Coventry on loan from Reading in 2015 and scored six goals in just 13 games.
That helped to earn him a run in the Royals first-team and a move to join Blackburn Rovers where he teamed up with Adam Armstrong in attack.
But this season he has only played 14 minutes for Tony Mowbray’s side, despite scoring five goals in just three games for their development side.
Like Rose, he too is out of contract at the end of the season.