£26m revelation may leave Coventry City and Millwall wondering | OneFootball

Brooke Norton-Cuffy had loan spells with both Coventry and Millwall

Coventry City and Millwall may be filled with some transfer regret, after a player they both had on loan is being touted with a big-money move to Italian giants Juventus and Inter.

Both Coventry and Millwall have been excellent this campaign, with the Sky Blues sitting pretty back at the top of the table after a little slip in form, whilst the Lions look well-placed to go on and secure a top-six finish come the end of the season.

Led by former Chelsea and England midfielder Frank Lampard, Coventry are looking to end nearly a 25-year wait for a return to the Premier League, while Millwall, led by former Norwich City and Stoke City boss Alex Neil, are aiming for their first top-flight season since 1989/90.

Both have undergone savvy pieces of recruitment over the years to help get them to this healthy position, with both having signed the same player on loan one year after the other.

Now shining in Italy, he is being linked with a huge move to both Juventus and Inter, surely filling both clubs with regret for not pursuing a permanent deal at the time.

Brooke Norton-Cuffy enjoyed loan spells with Coventry and Millwall in the Championship

A product of the Arsenal youth academy, Brooke Norton-Cuffy never made a first-team appearance for the Gunners, instead being sent out on loan to various clubs around the EFL to aid his development.

First came Lincoln City in League One during the second half of the 2021/22 season, and then Rotherham United in the Championship for the first half of the following campaign.

The right wing-back's displays at the New York Stadium alerted the interest of division rivals Coventry, then under the guidance of Mark Robins, who took him on loan for the second half of the season.

The defender made 24 appearances during his stay at the CBS Arena without scoring or assisting, as the Sky Blues missed out on a place in the top flight only through penalties, being defeated by Luton Town at Wembley in the play-off final.

Next up would be a trip across the Thames to The Den with Millwall, where the then-19-year-old would become a mainstay on the right of the Lions’ defence under Gary Rowett.

He would make 40 league appearances across the campaign for Millwall, scoring twice and assisting four, and looked certain for a permanent switch back to the second tier after Arsenal made it clear he was not in their long-term plans.

As it went, no side in the second tier could stump up the £3.5 million the Gunners were asking for for the young defender, with Italian top-flight side Genoa swooping in to jet Norton-Cuffy off to Liguria.

Since his move to the Italian coast, Norton-Cuffy has excelled and emerged as one of Genoa’s most valuable assets.

The wing-back made just 14 Serie A appearances in his first season at the club, but this campaign he has come to life, making 24 league appearances so far, scoring twice, assisting once and seeing him linked with a blockbuster €30M (£26m) move to both Juventus and Inter.

Inter are the ones most prominently linked with the wing-back, as Cristian Chivu’s side target a replacement for the ageing Denzel Dumfries.

With that in mind, both Coventry and Millwall must regret not having made either of their loan moves for Norton-Cuffy a permanent one.

Coventry did sign Milan Van Ewijk instead, who has been sublime since his move to the Sky Blues, whilst Tristan Crama has impressed at right-back since his permanent move from Brentford.

Nevertheless, after seeing the eye-watering fee Genoa are demanding for Norton-Cuffy, both clubs must be filled with a degree of regret after not pursuing the 22-year-old permanently.