Chelsea player should be top of Coventry City's three-man transfer shortlist | OneFootball

We took a look at the players Coventry City should prioritise signing in the January transfer window

The January transfer window is just around the corner, and Frank Lampard will be looking to put his own stamp on the Coventry City squad in a bid to help the Sky Blues move up the Championship table.

It's been a tumultuous campaign so far for the Sky Blues and long-serving manager Mark Robins was sacked in November and replaced by Lampard, who has enjoyed a decent enough start at the CBS Arena without setting the world alight.

However, the January transfer window will provide the ex-Chelsea manager with the chance to bring in his own players while offloading players who don't feature in his plans, and a good January could lay the foundations for a strong second half of the season.

It looks like the remainder of the 2024/25 campaign will be a transition period for Coventry, but supporters will demand better than what they've seen so far this season.

With that in mind, here are the players Coventry should prioritise signing in January.

Neither Oliver Dovin nor Brad Collins have been able to nail down a starting place in Coventry City's starting XI this season, and they could do with an experienced goalkeeper until the end of the season before reassessing the situation in the summer.

Marcus Bettinelli is currently at Chelsea, where he is way down the pecking order, and perhaps Lampard could ask his old side for a favour and sign the 32-year-old on loan until the end of the season.

With 137 Championship appearances under his belt, Bettinelli would provide Coventry City with an experienced head in goal and solve the current dilemma between Dovin and Collins, with neither player overly impressing this season.

Of course, Bettinelli isn't a long-term solution, but it would solve a potential headache between the sticks for the rest of the season, and the former Fulham shot-stopper still has plenty to give at Championship level.

2 Tyler Bindon

Football League World exclusively revealed recently that Reading centre-back Tyler Bindon was attracting interest from Coventry City along with Championship rivals Watford and Hull, and the New Zealand international would be an excellent addition for the Sky Blues.

The 19-year-old has been a standout performer at League One level for the Royals this season, and their financial situation means he will be available for a bargain price in January.

While Coventry are well-stocked at centre-half with the likes of Liam Kitching, Bobby Thomas, Joel Latibeaudiere and Luis Binks on their books, Bindon looks like a potential star of the future, and he's capable of making the step-up to the Championship despite his age.

The New Zealand international is someone that Coventry would likely be able to sell on for more money in the future, an attractive situation which they've reaped the rewards of previously with the likes of Viktor Gyokeres and Gus Hamer.

1 Kai Wagner

The deal that Coventry City should prioritise in January is signing Philadelphia Union wing-back Kai Wagner, who is reportedly on the radar of the Sky Blues and a number of other clubs.

Journalist Florian Plettenberg reported earlier this month that Coventry, Burnley, Atalanta and Parma are all keen to sign the 27-year-old, and he'd be a signing in a position of need for the Sky Blues.

Lampard has the likes of Jake Bidwell, Jay Dasilva and Milan van Ewijk as their wing-back options, but none of those have provided Coventry with an effective option going forward who can contribute with goals and assists, and Wagner has shown in the MLS that he can certainly do so.

It would be a bit of a risk for Coventry to sign an unproven 27-year-old from the MLS, but he's clearly doing something right to attract interest from a number of clubs, and he should be number one of the list of priorities for the Sky Blues in January.