Big Coventry City, Charlie Hughes transfer news should reassure Sky Blues fans - here’s why | OneFootball

Coventry have made an audacious move for Charlie Hughes, and the fact that they're in this race in the first place is good news for Sky Blues fans.

Coventry City have launched an audacious bid to sign defender Charlie Hughes from Hull City. It's a move that may not come off, but it's a positive move for Sky Blues fans regardless.

With three consecutive Championship top ten finishes in a row, Coventry City are now a long way removed from the habitual crisis club that they were throughout the 2010s.

Last season saw them finish in 5th place in the table for the second time in three years, and while defeat to Sunderland in the play-off semi-finals was a huge disappointment, it did leave them something to build on for this season.

Coventry have been active in the transfer market this summer, with four new players having already arrived at the CBS Arena, but it's the identity of their fifth - and most ambitious - move which best hints at the most urgent issue that Frank Lampard has to deal with ahead of the new season.

Coventry will have a fight on their hands to prise Charlie Hughes from Hull City

Coventry have a fight on their hands, if they're to prise defender Charlie Hughes away from Hull City.

They've had a £7 million bid rejected and are expected to return with a second one for a club-record £9 million, but the new Hull head coach Sergej Jakirovic has already responded to this by telling BBC Humberside that Hughes is not for sale and that he values the central defender at "over £20 million".

In addition to this, the Sky Blues aren't the only club interested in taking Hughes from Hull.

Sheffield United are also reportedly interested, although none of this will amount to very much if Jakirovic and the Hull owner Acun Ilicali stick to their guns and hold out for that minimum £20 million valuation.

Hughes is a highly promising young defender. The 21-year-old came through the academies at both Manchester City and Liverpool, and transferred to Hull for an undisclosed fee in August 2024.

Hughes interest hints at where Frank Lampard's rebuild priorities lay

Given the absolute certainty of Sergej Jakirovic's response to interest in Charlie Hughes, it may be that Coventry's interest in the player is a step too far this summer, but there is something that Sky Blues fans can take from even a failed bid for the player.

If there was a pressing issue that Lampard has had to deal with this summer, it was Coventry's defence.

The Sky Blues conceded 58 goals in the Championship last season.

That was the 13th-highest in the division; in the entire top half of the table, only Sheffield Wednesday conceded more, and they finished 12th.

And it's an issue that has already been reflected in Coventry's transfer dealings this summer. Of the four players that have been brought into the club this summer, three could be classified as in a sense 'defensive'; goalkeeper Carl Rushworth, and full-backs Kaine Kesler-Hayden and Miguel Angel Brau.

These are all signs that Frank Lampard is prioritising defensive solidity in his summer rebuild.

And this should be reason to give Sky Blues fans cheer, because while that goals against tally was a concern, they did still finish 5th in the table.

Get that defence tightened up, and there's good reason to believe that Coventry could go a step further this season.