Frank Lampard set to sanction Coventry City exit as Derby County, Burnley lurk | OneFootball

Burnley and Derby County have been linked with a move for Coventry City left-back Jake Bidwell.

With less than 36 hours until the close of the summer transfer window, Burnley and Derby County are rivalling each other for the signing of Coventry City defender Jake Bidwell.

Following the protracted search to find a successor for Scott Parker ahead of their return to the second-tier, Burnley eventually landed on former Club Brugge and Genk boss Nicky Hayen.

The 46-year-old Belgian does already, though, find himself under pressure after a poor start to the season from The Clarets. Penalties were required to defeat Notts County in the first round of the EFL Cup before a late and stirring comeback, inspired by a Zian Flemming brace, to get a point on the opening weekend of the season against West Ham United.

Since then, though, Burnley have been knocked out of the cup by League One outfit Bradford City with that game sandwiched between a 3-1 loss at The Hawthorns against West Bromwich Albion and then a 4-1 defeat to Norwich City at Carrow Road.

Derby missed out on the top six and the play-off places on the final day of last season and John Eustace would believe his Rams side will challenge for the top eight and those expanded play-off spots at the very least this time around.

After starting their season with a 2-1 loss at Charlton Athletic, despite having a half-time lead at The Valley, they have since shared a fun 2-2 draw with Cardiff City before succumbing to a 3-0 loss at home to Swansea City.

Both teams may well be responding to what has been a frustrating start to the campaign in the final hours of the transfer window – and Bidwell represents someone with potentially crucial recent title-winning experience in the Championship.

Burnley and Derby want Jake Bidwell

According to a report in The Daily Mail, Coventry City left-back Jake Bidwell is attracting interest from both Burnley and Derby before the close of the transfer window.

The report suggests that The Sky Blues will be willing to let the experienced defender depart on a loan deal after he made 14 appearances in the second-tier last year.

Bidwell joined Coventry in January 2022 and has made over 150 appearances for the club, having previously played for Brentford, Queens Park Rangers and Swansea after coming through the academy at Everton.

The defender looks set to be on the periphery of Coventry’s first-team squad this season after a busy summer of recruitment, following their promotion last season.

Jay Dasilva remains first-choice left-back for the time being but they have also recently brought in the versatile Stephen Mfuni on loan from Manchester City, who can play at centre-back as well as at left-back.

Derby may well, though, end up having a free run at Bidwell, too, with Burnley's reported interest in Manchester United defender Harry Amass.

Burnley and Derby in need of a left-back

Burnley do have plenty of versatile options for the left-back position but it is clear that they lack a player that is an out and out left-back at the moment.

More commonly a centre-back, Bashir Humphreys has played in that position this season, as well as Peru international Oliver Sonne – who has played the majority of his career at right-back.

Former Santos defender Lucas Pires is a left-back, albeit did play at right-back at times in the Premier League last season, but he also seems to be out of favour for the time being.

John Eustace interchanges between a back three and a four-at-the-back system, which would seemingly suit Bidwell very well as he can play as the left-sided defender in a three, too, in a similar way to both Craig Forsyth and Charlie Taylor – albeit Forsyth now more of a pure centre-back, leaving Taylor as the only man that can cover left centre-back, left-back and left wing-back if required.