West Ham United insider @ExWHUemployee has been sharing his thoughts on Hammers midfielder Conor Coventry and his potential role in the team this season.
This comes after Ex co-hosted a recent episode of The West Ham Way Podcast, where he spoke about a number of subjects concerning David Moyes’ side.
On the subject of Coventry and his potential role in the team moving forward, Ex had this to say on the matter.
He said: “I think Conor Coventry has given the manager a dilemma because he was expected to go on loan this season, but he’s obviously playing so well in pre-season that he’s now giving questions as to whether he can be that midfield option.
“I mean, there’s been talk of Yangel Herrera, who’s on the books at Man City – although I don’t think he’s played for them for years – as being a decent person to come in from midfield that we might be looking at a £16 million offer. I don’t think we’ll do that whilst Conor is playing as he is, we don’t need to perhaps spend in that position with Conor doing the business.”
Coventry, who is a product of West Ham’s youth system, has made 24 appearances for the club’s U18 side and 70 appearances for their U23 side (per Transfermarkt).
The 21-year-old, who is currently valued at £180k, made his senior debut for the Hammers back in their 8-0 win over Macclesfield Town in the Carabao Cup in 2018 under former West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini.
Overall, Coventry has made just three senior competitive appearances for the east London club.
TIF Thoughts on Ex’s comments on Coventry…
Given how Coventry managed to earn himself a decent match rating of 7/10 for his performance in West Ham’s recent pre-season match against Celtic according to Football.London, who said that he “slotted in well and continued his fine pre-season form,” despite only coming on in the second half of the match against the Scottish side, it’s understandable why Ex thinks Coventry could play a significant part for the Hammers this season.
Do you think Conor Coventry is ready to be a regular player for West Ham?
Yes
No
However, as Ex mentioned, with the club being linked with a move for Manchester City midfielder Yangel Herrera, this could potentially block Coventry from playing regularly next season if he joins.
In our view, if Moyes feels as though Coventry is ready to be a regular figure in West Ham’s senior squad next season then we see no reason why he shouldn’t be getting a decent amount of game time moving forward.
However, with the club having to tackle both the Premier League and the Europa League this season, perhaps adding Herrera to their squad this summer could be beneficial for the club considering he has some experience of playing in the Europa League.
In other news: ‘Came from sources connected to Moyes’ – Ex reveals West Ham’s summer transfer budget