Coventry City transfer news: In-demand Bobby Thomas, Abdoulie Manneh twist, Christian Benteke move suggested | OneFootball

All the latest transfer news surrounding Coventry City

Coventry City have enjoyed an impressive first half of the Championship season under Frank Lampard.

The Sky Blues missed out on promotion to the Premier League in the previous campaign with their second play-off disappointment in three years.

A semi-final aggregate loss to Sunderland consigned the club to another year in the second tier, but Lampard’s side have opened an early and commanding lead at the top of the table.

Coventry are seeking a return to the top flight for the first time since 2001, and the upcoming January transfer window could be crucial to the team getting over the line by the end of the term.

Here we look at all the latest transfer news surrounding the Championship league leaders…

Bobby Thomas attracting Premier League interest

Bobby Thomas’ performances for Coventry have earned him a lot of attention in this first half of the campaign.

According to The Sun, Brentford, Everton and Leeds United are all admirers of the 24-year-old ahead of the January transfer window.

The defender has been a consistent presence this campaign, and has even contributed two goals and three assists as part of the team’s promotion push.

Thomas has a contract with Coventry until the summer of 2027, having joined from Burnley in July 2023.

But it remains to be seen whether any of the Premier League trio will be able to convince the Sky Blues to cash in this January when the window reopens.

Abdoulie Manneh twist

Coventry were linked with a deal to sign Abdoulie Manneh back in November, with the Championship side eyeing some attacking reinforcements.

However, it has now been reported by Fotboll Direkt that the Sky Blues are no longer leading the race to sign the winger.

The Gambian contributed seven goals and three assists in the Allsvenskan last season, and could now be in line for a January move.

But it is being claimed that a switch to the CBS Arena is no longer the likeliest outcome.

Coventry target Keyan Varela

It was reported earlier this month by Swiss outlet SFM Football that Coventry have submitted an offer to sign Keyan Varela.

The 19-year-old is currently plying his trade with Servette FC, and his performances have earned him a place in the Portugal U20 side.

The forward has made seven appearances in the Swiss Super League so far this season, contributing one goal, after breaking into the Servette first team in the previous campaign.

It remains to be seen whether the Championship club can win the race to his signature, or what the cost of a possible deal will amount to.

Coventry City urged to make Christian Benteke move

Christian Benteke confirmed his departure from MLS side DC United at the start of December, leading to speculation over the next step in the striker’s career.

FLW’s Coventry fan pundit Chris Deez has urged the club to push to sign the former Liverpool and Aston Villa star.

The 35-year-old scored nine goals from 25 appearances in America last season, and the Sky Blues have been told that he could still potentially play a role for the team, if they can figure out a way to agree reasonable wages for him to join Lampard’s side.

"I would absolutely love it if we could sign Christian Benteke," Deez told FLW.

"I think he is still more than capable of ripping up the Championship, scoring twenty-plus goals in a season.

"There are a couple of concerns; I would be a little bit worried that it might turn out a little bit like Yakubu did at the end of his career, where he made three bit-part appearances for us, played for a matter of minutes across all of them, and then rode off into the sunset and retired.

"The MLS is a better league than what people give it credit for.

"You know, you get people on social media who will say 'Oxford could win the MLS.' No, they couldn't, let's not be silly.

"It's a perfectly good league with quite a lot of very good players, and Benteke didn't exactly have a bad record there over the few seasons that he was at DC United.

"I think one of the obvious stumbling blocks could be wages.