Coventry City seem destined for the Premier League. They are currently 5 points clear of 2nd place Middlesbrough and 12 ahead of Preston North End in 3rd.
Given that they will almost certainly be promoted this season, they now face a dilemma.
Haji Wright has been one of Coventry’s best players as they have stormed the first half of the campaign. Wright is one of the top scorers in the division, netting 8 times and providing 1 assist in 17 games.
Due to these strong performances, he has once again been linked with a move to the Premier League. Leeds United was previously a potential destination but he has now been linked with a move to West Ham.
The potential sale of the 27-year-old is certainly a conundrum for Coventry. On the one hand, it seems a bit insane to sell one of your top performers midway through the season whilst you are on the fast track to promotion.
But on the other hand, how big of a loss would the American really be? Wright might’ve scored 8 Championship goals so far, but he has missed 11 big chances, the joint most of anyone in the division.
Suddenly Wright’s goal return doesn’t sound as impressive. Surely a teammate such as Ellis Simms or a new signing could put together a similar, if not better, goal return if given the same number of chances?
Even if they couldn’t, given the fact that promotion seems almost guaranteed for Coventry at this point, selling Wright may well be worthwhile after all. Especially given the fact that West Ham will be desperate to retain their Premier League status.
This could lead to a willingness to overspend on their transfer targets. Couple this with Wright’s number of big chances missed perhaps foreshadowing him not being ready for the step up, Coventry may never get a better offer for Wright.
Taking everything into account, selling Haji Wright doesn’t seem like a ludicrous idea on Coventry’s part. However, I personally wouldn’t.
Simply because, if they do sell him and somehow aren’t a Premier League team next season, everyone will ask why they tried to fix something that wasn’t broken. In addition, who knows when injuries will befall them.
They should get promoted with as much of their current team still intact as they can and then reassess.
