Coventry City 2025/26 Season Preview: Transfers, Tactics & Predictions

Currently in their third-longest stint in England’s second tier, fans of the Sky Blues will be praying that they will be sixth-time lucky this time around and finally make a long-awaited return to the promised land. Coventry City are a large name in English football, and it is only a matter of time until they can reach their full potential.

Last season was an utter rollercoaster if you ask any Coventry supporter – from standing two points above the relegation zone at the end of November when Frank Lampard first stepped foot in the dugout, to ending the season with a heart-breaking defeat to Sunderland in the final seconds of extra-time in their play-off semi-final.

Frank Lampard took Coventry City from 17th to 5th in the Championship and helped them qualify for the playoffs.

They conceded a 120+2’ goal in the playoff semifinal to eliminate them.

So close to Wembley 💔 pic.twitter.com/VtDp9G9z7G

— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) May 13, 2025

Since May, they have improved, refreshed, reenergised and are ready to compete once more as they strive for another successful season in the Championship. Here, we will be analysing the transfers made over the summer, how we believe they may set up tactically, and where the Sky Blues will find themselves in nine months time.

Summer Transfer Window: Who’s In & Who’s Out?

Lampard’s side have not been too busy over the summer, with only two signings arriving in the West Midlands thus far. Both incoming players have been strong defensive additions to Lamps’ arsenal. Ranked fourth for goals scored last season with 64, it was the defence which proved the most problematic last season – an issue spotted and improved through the additions made.

(Coventry Arrivals via Transfermarkt)

Kaine Kesler-Hayden was the marquee signing of the window for the Sky Blues, with the right-back arriving from Aston Villa for £3.5m. The highly rated 22-year-old talent made his Premier League debut in March, in the first of three appearances before making the move to the Coventry Building Society Arena, where he will compete for the starting spot with the highly talented Milan van Ewijk.

Miguel Ángel Brau also joined the club from Granada to provide competition for the left-back position, while the promising goalkeeper Carl Rushworth was enticed by the invite to the West Midlands from Brighton on a season-long loan.

Although fans are disappointed that no more signings have been sealed yet, the three arrivals will provide substantial defensive quality to a side that struggled once being split open last campaign. Despite achieving an impressive 13 clean sheets (ranked 10th in the division), they still conceded 58 goals – with only Sheffield Wednesday conceding more from teams who finished in the top half. In the 33 matches where they didn’t make a clean sheet, they conceded 1.76 goals per game, suggesting the Sky Blues would concede twice more often than not.

(Coventry Departures via Transfermarkt)

As for departures from Coventry, centre-back Luis Binks was sold to Danish outfit Bröndby IF for a fee in the region of £2.5m, with Jamie Paterson, Jack Burroughs, Fábio Tavares, Ryan Howley, and Cian Tyler all leaving for various clubs around EFL League’s One and Two upon the expiration of their contracts.

There is recent news in Coventry’s camp suggesting they could be close to signing Lamine Fanne from Luton Town; however, the Sky Blues are far away from winning the battle for his signature just yet. Many fans are optimistic and have high expectations for Lampard this season to lead them to another promotion quest from what we have seen so far in his tenure.

Tactical Outlook: What to Expect on the Pitch

Lampard will be leading his improved side into the new season where the need for any tweaks to his system will have had plenty of time to be implemented, and with the club only welcoming three new players, the Sky Blues will ready to set off straight away, with the players already familiar with the tactical setup displayed by the boss.

Lampard follows a long string of change in trends for Championship managers, with the 47-year-old providing exciting football in the division whilst being quite experienced at this level now through a previous managerial stint at Derby County.

Coventry have seen an incredible improvement in results since Lampard took over in November, and he shows the perfect principles in his play that Championship managers should have. His team displays the perfect blend of attacking and risk-taking football, not being afraid to adapt as soon as there a change in the opposition’s play. The high press implemented by the ex-Chelsea midfielder means his team are able to choke out the opposition and create big chances in the final third, improving their xG and chances of scoring goals.

This was evident by their high goal count last term; however, the system does demand a lot out of the full backs, with them covering a vast amount of grass per match. This was of course an issue which was addressed as two new young full backs have come in, full of energy to excel in these demanding roles.

Lampard seems to have all the players on board with the strategy, with their vastly improved second half of the season displaying the players that have fully bought into the system.

On that note, here is how we believe Coventry City could lineup next term:

Carl Rushworth; Miguel Angel Brau, Liam Kitching, Bobby Thomas, Milan van Ewijk; Matt Grimes, Ben Sheaf; Ephron Mason-Clark, Jack Rudoni, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto; Haji Wright.

Season Expectations and Predictions

Lampard’s new signings are expected to face to tough battles for the starting spots at the club early on, while Haji Wright starting up front is likely to continue, with the American in exceptional form towards the back-end of last season.

With the squad by no means lacking the quality it had last year, and having added some strong competition in for some of the most demanding roles in Lampard’s system, it is difficult to necessarily see Coventry having a worse season even if the final position reflects that, it just depends on how much other teams around them have improved in comparison.

The Championship is the most difficult league to predict, with plenty of teams spending in abundance, so only time will tell how the Sky Blues will perform this season. Their season gets underway against Hull City on Saturday, so perhaps we will get a better idea as the season progresses.

Prediction

League Finish: 6th

Top Scorer: Haji Wright

Players to Watch: Carl Rushworth and Jack Rudoni