"Excited" - Coventry City backed to seal £5m transfer amid van Ewijk exit fear | OneFootball

FLW’s Coventry City fan pundit is enthused by the Sky Blues’ interest in Kaine Kesler-Hayden after his impressive loan spell with Preston.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Coventry City will be preparing for another Championship season after suffering heartbreak in the play-off semi-final to Sunderland.

With the Black Cats holding a 2-1 lead heading into the second leg at the Stadium of Light, the Sky Blues dragged the scores level after an evening of dominance on Wearside, as Ephron Mason-Clark netted on his return to action.

The Midlands outfit had further chances to take the lead on the night, with Haji Wright miscuing a header in the last kick of normal time.

A rollercoaster of emotions unfolded in the final act of extra-time, as Dan Ballard’s header from a corner sparked ecstasy for the Sunderland faithful, with all associated with Coventry crestfallen as their season came to such a cruel end.

It means a second successive campaign where Coventry have been beaten in the play-offs, but they will be hopeful that one of these seasons will be their year after making such positive strides in Frank Lampard’s opening term.

As another summer rolls around, it’s set to be a period of change with players both arriving and exiting the CBS Arena, with the club strongly linked with a move for Aston Villa defender Kaine Kesler-Hayden for £5 million.

FLW’s Coventry City fan pundit has outlined whether a move for the 22-year-old is a wise decision heading into the upcoming transfer window.

Coventry City lauded for Kaine Kesler-Hayden interest

Speaking to Football League World, Coventry City fan pundit Chris Deez is excited by the prospect of Kaine Kesler-Hayden linking up with Frank Lampard at the Sky Blues after such a promising term with Preston.

Chris said: “I’m quite excited by the prospect of signing Kesler-Hayden for £5 million. Preston fans seem to rate him pretty highly based on the feedback I’ve seen on social media, and they were saying he was worth more than double what we are paying for him, so that sounds promising.

“I’ve seen little bits of him. If I’m honest, I’m not massively clued-up on him, but from what I have seen, it’s looked pretty good from checking him out on YouTube and social media since the news came out that we were linked with him.

“I know he looked pretty good at Plymouth on loan and then impressed at Preston, and they (Preston fans) seemed to be saying that it would be a good move for us, and they were hoping they could keep him. He’s scored a couple of goals and got a few assists, so that does suggest he’s a similar player to Van Ewijk.”

On Van Ewijk’s future, Chris added: “I would, in an ideal world, like to see us keep Van Ewijk, but the teams he’s been linked with and the money being touted from the likes of Fulham, Galatasaray and Lazio means I can't see him turning them down. I can’t imagine we will turn down that sort of money down either as that kind of money gets us two or three very good players. If we’re spending five million on Kesler-Hayden, then we’d have anything between five to nine million to reinvest elsewhere.

“I love Van Ewijk. He had a great season. It started off a bit rocky, but he rescued it towards the end. He was fantastic the season before and can completely understand why he’s got so many admirers.

“I’d be absolutely stunned if we kept him and I would love to and build a team around him and Jack Rudoni, but he’s quite clearly destined for bigger than Coventry, as much as it pains me to say it.”

Kaine Kesler-Hayden can help fill the gap left by Milan van Ewijk departure

Despite Preston’s struggles towards the back end of the season that saw them sucked into a relegation dog fight, Kaine Kesler-Hayden was a regular and impressive performer at full-back, playing 44 of their 46 Championship matches while contributing two goals and three assists.

At 22, Kesler-Hayden has proven the quality he possesses by winning both the supporters and players’ Player of the Season awards, becoming such a valued member of that Championship squad.

So young, there’s plenty of room to grow and develop too, and while Van Ewijk’s exit will be a huge disappointment to Coventry fans, the Sky Blues could have one of the division’s best attacking full-backs on their hands.