The Coventry City model offering Portsmouth, Charlton Athletic, Derby County & Co Championship transfer inspiration
The Coventry City model offering Portsmouth, Charlton Athletic, Derby County & Co Championship transfer inspiration.
Coventry are surging a few years after selling Gus Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres for a lot of money.
Pompey manager Andy Cullen examines the connections between where the Championship leaders were a few years ago and where his club is now.
Coventry City has been hailed as a shining example of the player trade strategy that Pompey hopes to exploit as a springboard to Championship glory.
And Blues chief executive Andy Cullen sees no reason why his team can’t emulate the second-tier leader’s recruitment strategy as they seek to establish themselves at this level.
Pompey chief: ‘I’ve used the example of Coventry’
Coventry have been a revelation this season under Frank Lampard, leading by 10 points after just 18 games.
The Sky Blues capitalised on their success previous season, reaching the play-offs only to be knocked out in the semi-finals by Sunderland after losing late in extra time.
Lampard was successful in keeping the majority of that squad together ahead of the new season, and that familiarity is a key component of their current success.
Coventry are in their sixth season at this level, having returned to the Championship as League One champions in 2020.
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Their player trade over that period has been phenomenally successful, particularly in the cases of Gus Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres.
Coventry paid roughly £1.5 million to sign Hamer from Dutch club Pec Zwolle in 2020, after the midfielder joined Sheffield United for £15 million two years earlier.
Meanwhile, Gyokeres had an even higher profit margin, having joined from Brighton for about £1 million a year later and then moving to Sporting Lisbon for £17.5 million two years later.
Coventry then received a portion of the revenues when the Sweden international transferred to Arsenal for an initial £55 million in the summer.
Gyokeres and Hamer kickstart Coventry player trading
That massive monetary influx was used to bankroll moves for players such as Haji Wright (£7.7 million), Ellis Simms (£3.5 million), Liam Kitching (£4 million), Ephron Mason-Clark (£4.25 million), Jack Rudoni (£5 million), Victor Torp (£2 million), Bobby Thomas (£2 million), and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto (£1.2 million), all of whom have played key roles in the club’s current success.
Pompey appear to be a long way from matching Coventry’s storming success, but Cullen pointed out that they began in a similar position to where the leaders are now.
Cullen stated, “We’re still at the beginning of strengthening in terms of player trading.” Our focus must be on the development of emerging players, and we believe we have great assets to help us move forward in this area.
‘I highlighted the example of Coventry City, which took two years after promotion to materialise player sales, but the results of selling Gyokeres and Hamer for a combined £34 million were outstanding and served as a springboard for their trading model.
‘They spent £1m, £2m, and £3m on players prior, and things progressed from there.’ That method has now propelled them to the play-offs and the top of the Championship, as they have kept their assets together.
‘We can get there and are building by bringing in young players, some of whom may progress as they become more desirable.’
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