West Ham quoted world-record transfer fee in pursuit of Coventry City star | OneFootball

Premier League West Ham are reported to have made an enquiry about one of Coventry's key players and they received short shrift in reply.

West Ham United are reported to have made an enquiry to Coventry City about the availability of one of the Sky Blues' key players - only to have received particularly short shrift in reply.

With one win in their last four matches, the Sky Blues have had a little bit of a wobble in the run-up to Christmas. Frank Lampard's side remain six points clear at the top of the Championship and 11 clear of third, but this run will have served as a reminder that a return to the Premier League for the first time in a quarter of a century isn't necessarily guaranteed just yet.

There will inevitably be interest in their players in the January transfer window, but if the response that Premier League strugglers West Ham United are reported to have received to an enquiry about the potential availability of one of their star players is anything to go by, the Sky Blues won't be giving them up without a considerable fight.

West Ham United quoted an extraordinary £200 million for Haji Wright

According to a report in The Telegraph on the subject of West Ham United's January transfer window, the Irons made an enquiry about the potential availability of Coventry City's USA international forward Haji Wright.

But the reports claims that the Premier League club received an eyebrow-raising reply, with the Coventry hierarchy quoting a mammoth £200 million for the United States international - the same price that Neymar joined Paris Saint-Germain for in 2017.

There is only one reasonable assumption that can be reached from Coventry's response to West Ham's enquiry into the potential availability of Haji Wright, which is that the Sky Blues really do not want to lose this player.

Coventry's valuation of Haji Wright may only be partially tongue-in-cheek - Doug King doesn't want to lose him though

There's no doubt about Wright's value to Coventry City. He's scored eight goals for them in the Championship so far this season, and has managed 40 for them in all competitions since joining the club from the Turkish club Antalyaspor in 2023.

It's entirely possible that Coventry City quoted this huge amount of money because it's in the ballpark of what the Sky Blues might miss out on, were they to miss out on were they to fail to return to the Premier League at the end of this season.

Even if they only stayed up for one season, parachute payments for the three years afterwards would push their total earnings from being in the Premier League above this amount.

In one sense, Haji Wright is worth nowhere near £200 million. Transfermarkt estimate his value to be £10.5 million. But Coventry are on the brink of a historic season, and that pre-Christmas wobble will have reminded everybody at The CBS Arena that promotion isn't a done deal until it's mathematically confirmed.

If nothing else, their dismissive reply to West Ham's enquiry will be a reminder to the player himself of just how important he is to Coventry City and their chances of regaining the top-flight status that they've been missing for a quarter of a century. It's a stunning show of confidence in the player from manager Frank Lampard and owner Doug King.