"I'd be thrilled" - Coventry City urged to sign Emil Riis on one condition | OneFootball

The Preston North End man will be out of contract this summer

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…

Emil Riis' five-year stay at Preston North End is set to come to a close this summer, with the club announcing that he will be departing at the culmination of his contract via their retained list.

The Dane struggled with an ACL tear, which kept him out of action for almost the entirety of 2023, but in his first full season back this past campaign, he bagged 12 goals and missed just one league game all season.

The 26-year-old has shown signs this past term of returning to his best pre-injury, where he scored 16 and assisted five in the 2021/22 campaign, and, understandably, he is attracting the interest of sides who have promotion aspirations, namely Sheffield United and Coventry City.

Frank Lampard's Sky Blues struggled for goals from an out-and-out striker last season, with the main goalscoring burden falling on wide-man Haji Wright and attacking midfielder Jack Rudoni.

You'd expect the side who underperformed their xG by six all season to be on the hunt for a prolific frontman this coming summer, and Emil Riis could provide that option.

However, per the views of FLW's Coventry City fan pundit, Chris Deez, Riis would be more suited as a backup at the CBS Arena if the Sky Blues were to bring him in on a free transfer.

Emil Riis could be a useful squad option at Coventry City - if he's signed as back-up

Deez told Football League World that, whilst he likes the look of Emil Riis, he doesn't believe that the 26-year-old starts for Coventry City if he were to be brought in.

"He's not a super prolific scorer, but if you look at our scorers last season, he had a better return than Ellis Simms," he said.

"I quite like what I saw of him last season. He scored 12 goals in a poor Preston side that just survived relegation late on.

"But I don't think he's a starting forward for us and isn't the right calibre of player for the automatic positions or even the play-offs.

"I'd be thrilled to have him as a squad player coming off the bench."

The 6-foot-3 Dane could be a dangerous option for a Coventry City side who, under Frank Lampard, like to attack down the wings and put crosses into the box.

According to Fotmob, the Sky Blues created the second-most big chances in the Championship, behind Leeds United, and had the most accurate crosses per game in the league too.

Having Riis back-up the equally tall Ellis Simms would cause defenders nightmares with the amount of balls in the box they would have to deal with for the entire 90 minutes next season, but only if the former Preston man were to make that switch this summer.

Free transfer aspect is an "bonus" in signing Emil Riis

Deez continued: "There's the added bonus of him being a free transfer, as I'm not sure how much we're going to have to spend this summer.

"I know Doug King has done something financial in the last few days, and £15 million has come into the club, although I'm not sure whether that will be able to be spent on players.

"We might have to rely on player sales and any money that may come in from Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres being sold from their respective clubs."

Signing Emil Riis won't depend on any of that, though, as he would be arriving on a free transfer, following the expiration of his Preston contract.

And, for a player who can be relied on to score in the double digits at Championship level, it'd be a very low-risk, high-reward transfer that could push Coventry to that next level, even if he is brought in to solely boost their current attacking depth.

"[Riis] looks like a quality option and a good squad player - I see absolutely no harm in it, especially if we let Wright or Simms leave.

"I think he'd be a perfectly capable replacement," Deez concluded.