Coventry City’s £5m bargain could now be key to £120m Premier League windfall | OneFootball

The signing of Jack Rudoni could be the difference between Premier League promotion and fighting for a play-off place for Coventry City

Coventry City have taken a big stride towards ending their long wait for Premier League football in recent weeks.

The 3-1 win over promotion rivals Middlesbrough got Frank Lampard’s side back on track after a difficult run of form in the months prior.

The Sky Blues won just two of their eight games before the 3-1 victory at home to Kim Hellberg’s side, which started a run of four consecutive victories.

The Teesside outfit had closed the gap to Coventry ahead of their trip to the CBS Arena, and had even moved one point ahead before then falling two behind with the loss.

A hat-trick from Haji Wright sealed a crucial three points, with wins against West Brom, Sheffield United and Stoke City following.

Those wins have now given Lampard’s side a nine-point cushion on third-place Millwall, putting the club in a strong position to end their 24-year wait for top flight football.

Jack Rudoni’s bargain signing proving crucial to Coventry promotion push

Jack Rudoni made the switch to Coventry in the 2024 summer transfer window, moving from Huddersfield Town after their relegation to League One.

The playmaker arrived in a deal worth a reported £5 million, and his performances were key to the team earning a play-off place in his first season at the club.

However, the team fell short of promotion with a 3-2 aggregate loss to Sunderland in the semi-finals.

It was hoped Rudoni would go from strength to strength in his second term at the CBS Arena, and that he’d be crucial to an automatic promotion push.

He went 19 games without a goal from August to February, and he only contributed four assists in that time.

However, the goal he set up for Wright to go 1-0 ahead against Middlesbrough last month has sparked a run of form that has proved crucial to Coventry re-establishing themselves in a strong position in the Championship table.

The 24-year-old has scored in consecutive wins against West Brom, Sheffield United and Stoke City in the aftermath of the 3-1 victory against Boro.

Rudoni is coming back into his own, hitting his best form at a massively important stage of the season, and it could be the difference between earning automatic promotion and falling into the play-offs.

The former Huddersfield man had two goals and four assists prior to the game against Middlesbrough, with his tally now up to five and five.

But diving deeper into the stats, courtesy of Fotmob, we can see that in the games against Stoke, Sheffield United, West Brom and Middlesbrough he was averaging 1.0 shots on target and 1.5 chances created, which is above his seasonal average of 0.64 and 1.44 per 90, highlighting his increased attacking danger.

Combined, he's got a tally of 2.5 strong attacks on goal versus 2.08 per 90 in this recent run, which is a solid increase over a short span and, if he can keep that up, then the increase in goals and assists should naturally follow.

From his first 21 appearances, he had an expected assists (xA) of 2.78 and in these last four fixtures alone he's had an xA of 0.76 for a tally of around 20 percent of the total figure.

Jack Rudoni signing could now earn Coventry City £120 million

The signing of Rudoni could be the best use of £5 million that Coventry have ever spent if he can keep this form up.

While the playmaker was impressive in his first season — contributing nine goals and 12 assists in the regular term — he has now played his way back into form right when the pressure was at its most intense this year.

And promotion could be worth up to £120 million for the Sky Blues, which would be a huge windfall for the club.

Every subsequent campaign that the Sky Blues remain in the Premier League would then also be worth another £120 million each on top, so there’s even greater potential for this to be an even better financial boon for the club.

Given the impact Rudoni has had in the last few weeks, that alone has proven worth the price paid to sign him from Huddersfield, let alone the positive performances he had on a consistent basis in the previous campaign.

The manner of his strike against West Brom in particular, scoring a rocket hit into the top corner from outside the box, shows the quality and attacking threat that he provides.

While playing through an injury held him back during Coventry’s rough patch, he now looks to be back to his best and that could be what separates Lampard’s side from the chasing pack this season.