Transfers continue to dominate Coventry City fans’ thoughts, in particular the on-going saga of Marko Stamenic’s reported move to the CBS Arena or a fee of €5m (£4.2m).
That’s been claimed by a handful of Serbian outlets, one of which has even quoted a coach from Red Star Belgrade, the club where the 22-year-old midfielder is said to be coming from. The Sky Blues, meanwhile, continue to be quiet on the matter, refusing to confirm or deny a deal has been done for the New Zealand international.
Elsewhere, supporters are desperate for news on other signings, when City will be releasing next season’s new kits and how season ticket sales are going. Here, Sky Blues reporter Andy Turner answers some of the big questions of the week, starting with one having a pop.
AT: It’s not easy when the reported buying club are saying absolutely nothing. Doug King is clearly trying to keep things quiet on transfer news and speculation until the club announce things, which is fine, but these things always get out, often at the other end, as has been the case in this instance. We can therefore only go one what is being reported by the Serbian press at the moment.
As each day passes, I get more and more convinced this is a done and dusted deal. Just waiting on the club to announce it. Club waiting for Friday when the window officially opens, perhaps? I guess we will wait and see.
AT: They announced Raphael Borges Rodrigues the other week so waiting for the window to officially open doesn’t make sense.
Maybe it’s not a done deal. Maybe it’s in principle, subject to certain conditions. Maybe it’s a logistics thing with legals and paperwork. One thing I know, City always co-ordinate press announcements with the buying or selling clubs.
As it stands and assuming we’re signing Marko and COH has left, I make it we’re 1 player short of where we started last season (not taking home grown youth players into account). How many additional players do you think we need on top of other potential outgoings?
AT: I reckon three or four at least, depending on whether others go. They need another CB, GK if Wilson goes, striker if Godden goes and playmaker to replace COH for starters. And a RB to compete with Milan, perhaps.
Given Stamenic seems to have a good long range passing ability do you think he was brought in with this in mind – we have really missed being able to switch play from left to right since we lost Hamer – so a bit more of a Hamer replacement – although no way like for like.
AT: As with all players, I’d imagine they looked at the whole package rather than just one aspect of a prospective player’s game. A long and accurate pass would always be a bonus but any players brought in will need to have several attributes for their given position.
