Yahoo News Coventry City forward cuts short contract as he leaves Sky Blues for Austria
Coventry City have parted company with another young development player despite hopes of bridging the gap to the first team. CoventryLive understands that the Sky Blues cancelled the contract by mutual consent of attacking midfield/winger Evan Eghosa, who has now signed for Austrian second division side Floridsdorf Athletic Club.
The 18-year-old signed his first professional contract with the Championship club last summer, with the two year deal due to run until July 2025. But that agreement has been cut short by 12 months.
City released fellow Under-21s players Dermi Lusala and Bradley Stretton in May, with the pair both named when the club published its retained list, including players who were being let go. Since then, another development player tipped for a promising future, Marco Rus, has left to join Ayr United, with the 21-year-old signing for the Scottish Championship side for an undisclosed fee earlier this month.
READ MORE: Coventry City's unique transfer strategy revealed as Cristiano Ronaldo point made
READ MORE: Why Rob Gurney is so 'excited' about Coventry City's latest signing
There was a huge hint that Eghosa’s time at City was coming to an end when he was allowed to go on trial at Norwich City and featured in part of the Canaries’ development team’s 4-1 win at Aston Villa, going on as a second half substitute.
Now, however, the teenager has moved abroad. The Austrian Liga 2 side said in a statement at the weekend: The former U17 national team player for Austria is moving from the youth team of the English Championship club Coventry City to Hopfengasse and has signed a contract until 2026 plus an option for a further year.
FAC Sport Director Lukas Fischer said: Evan is an exceptionally talented young player who has already gained valuable experience in England. With the long-term contract, we want to show that we have a clear plan for him and want to offer him the opportunity to take the next step in his career through us using the FAC platform."
Eghos said of his move: "I thank God that this great new challenge has arisen at FAC. FAC has made a lot of efforts for me. That made the decision to move to Floridsdorf easier for me. I am really looking forward to showing what I am capable of in Austria and will do everything I can to help the team as best as possible in the coming season."
So what’s happened to the young forward appeared to be progressing nicely?
He joined the club three seasons ago and quickly climbed the ranks at The Alan Higgs Centre and became a regular for John Dempster’s Under-21s side, helping the young Sky Blues to two Cup finals and spent last summer training with the first-team, under the watchful eye of Mark Robins and his coaches.
After taking part in the pre-season and featuring in three senior friendly matches against Forest Green, Shrewsbury Town and MK Dons he was rewarded a month later with a two year deal, after which he said: “I am very happy, thank you! It has been great and I am very grateful. My faith has been a big part of this too, so I have to thank God, first and foremost. I am grateful to be here, and to have signed my first professional deal.”
He added: “Training with the first team has been a great experience. I have been able to see where the levels are. That has inspired me to push. “Working with the first team coaches, Dennis [Lawrence], Adi [Viveash], and the Gaffer, has been really good. They’ve been on to me and talking to me: which has been so good for my development as well.”
Asked at the time what his targets and aims were for the 2023/24 campaign, he said: “My aim now is to get more first-team exposure. I played lots of Under-21s last season but now I want to be around the first team and push myself into the manager’s thoughts. I want to push on now and develop, they’re my aims.”
Something has clearly changed over the last 12 months and the two parties have decided to go their separate ways.
