Coventry City chasing £5m Aston Villa transfer agreement | OneFootball

Coventry City are leading the race to sign Aston Villa defender Kaine Kesler-Hayden, who impressed on loan at Preston last season.

Beaten Championship play-off semi-finalists Coventry City are leading the race to sign Aston Villa defender Kaine Kesler-Hayden.

The 22-year-old has been with the Villains since he was a youngster, progressing through the club's academy before signing his first professional contract in 2021.

Since then, the full-back has been on five separate loan spells and accumulated a wealth of experience across all three divisions in the EFL.

His most recent loan spell yielded the most success though, as he played 44 times in the Championship for Preston last season, scoring two goals and seriously impressing in what was a pretty dull season for the club. This saw him named as the club's Player of the Season.

Now, journalist Alan Nixon has reported via his Patreon page on Sunday morning that Frank Lampard's Coventry are leading the race to sign Kesler-Hayden permanently, following their late play-off heartbreak at the hands of Sunderland.

Coventry City seeking £5m Kaine Kesler-Hayden transfer agreement

Chelsea and England legend Lampard performed a minor miracle this season when he replaced Mark Robins in the hotseat at the CBS Arena, taking the club from lower mid-table all the way to the play-offs.

Sadly, their season was brought to a crushing end when Dom Ballard headed home the winner in the final second of extra-time to send Sunderland to Wembley, and break Coventry hearts once again.

However, now the Sky Blues know they'll be competing in the Championship again next season, the attention has reportedly turned to the transfer market, as they gear up for yet another crack at promotion.

Nixon reported that Preston loan star Kesler-Hayden has emerged as a target for the play-off semi-finalists, and they are in pole position to land his signature, according to the journalist.

Aston Villa are said to be keen to sell the 22-year-old, who has made just three league appearances for the club, as they look to trim their squad ahead of next season's Premier League and European campaigns.

This has seen Coventry emerge as front-runners to strike a deal with the Midlands outfit. The Sky Blues are reportedly willing to pay £5m plus extras to secure the full-back's services, in what would be the first permanent move of his career.

Kaine Kesler-Hayden will need a new permanent home this summer

As mentioned, Kesler-Hayden worked his way through the ranks at Villa Park before eventually making his Premier League debut in 2023/24.

Whilst his five loan spells have really helped him develop as a player, particularly the most recent one, the defender has been a victim of Aston Villa's success in recent years, and is quite a way off being a first-team regular for his first club.

As Nixon stated, Villa are now willing to sell Kesler-Hayden as his stock is the highest it's been following a strong loan with Preston last campaign. This will bring the 22-year-old's time at his first club to a close.

The Villains don't want to be wasting the full-back's career by not giving him regular minutes, and they clearly feel he doesn't have a future at the football club, despite his recent loan success.

All in all, this move could work for all parties. Villa will get a solid fee for Kesler-Hayden, whilst also getting him off the wage bill. The player himself gets a chance to play more regular football and continue his development, and Coventry get a solid Championship defender who has plenty of room to grow in the future.

The Sky Blues could be facing a battle to keep current right-back Milan Van Ewijk at the club this summer after clubs were interested in signing him in January. If that's the case, bringing in Championship-proven Kesler-Hayden as a replacement would be a very wise piece of business.