It’s no secret that Coventry City are in the market for a new centre-back this summer following the return of Luis Binks to his parent club Bologna after an encouraging yet far from perfect season-long loan at the CBS Arena.
The Sky Blues currently have just three senior recognised central defenders on their books in Bobby Thomas, Liam Kitching and Joel Latibeaudiere, having started the 2023/24 campaign with five, including Kyle McFadzean who left for Blackburn Rovers in January.
Mark Robins will need at least four centre-halves for the forthcoming season to ensure he has both competition and cover for the two available spots, assuming he sticks with a back four. It remains to be seen whether he will go with another promising young prospect like Binks or go for more experience with someone like 29-year-old Paddy McNair, who is a free agent after being let go by Middlesbrough.
The manager admitted during the second half of the season that his squad missed the character of McFadzean, an ingredient he’d like to replace at some stage. But the club’s preferred model is to recruit talented young players with the ability to grow and develop, and provide a prospective return on the investment by becoming saleable assets.
Binks, therefore, certainly ticks that box. With that in mind, here we look at the likelihood of the defender returning to City by assessing both the club’s stance, and that of Bologna and the player himself.
