Yahoo News Coventry City and Luis Binks' transfer stance as club continues search for competition at the back
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.
READ MORE: 'Hesitated and hesitated' - Fresh details emerge in Marko Stamenic to Coventry City transfer claims
READ MORE: New 'bonus' figures emerge over record Coventry City transfer that could see fee rise to €11 million
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.
What Mark Robins has said on the matter
The manager made an admission about Binks’ future after the 22-year-old played his final game of both the season and his temporary spell with the Sky Blues in the 2-1 CBS Arena defeat by Queens Park Rangers, having made 23 appearances over the course of the season in all competitions. Binks has previously stated publicly that he wants a permanent return to English football despite having another two years on his current contract at the Serie A club.
Although the young defender didn’t feature as much as he’d have perhaps liked over the course of the campaign at City, he certainly impressed many fans and reminded the manager of his talent with an outstanding cameo against Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, after which Robins intended to give him a run in the side. However, an Achilles injury cut that short until the final match when he returned to fitness and the starting line-up.
Asked about the player’s future and whether Binks has given him food for thought in terms of upgrading his loan to a permanent deal this summer, Robins said: “I think Binksy has been good. He started off at a level, and he’s at a good level. He’s at Bologna for a reason and he played a few games at Como last year.
“He’s very young for a centre-half but he has a lot of potential. He’s really good on the ball. Defensively he needs work, like every one of them does because they are not the finished article and we have a young back line since Fadz left. They make mistakes but they have to learn from them, that’s for sure.
“I think we have got a decent group but we definitely want to add to that and with Binksy, if he goes back and we don’t do anything or see him again, he’s been good for us.”
However, hinting that Binks might be of interest this summer, the manager added: “He’s a great lad who has been brilliant in the dressing room. The lads love him and he’s someone who we want to keep in touch with and see how things go. But that will come in the next bit, and depends on a number of factors.”
What Binks has said about his future
And after having a taste of senior English football for the first time in his young career, the former Tottenham Hotspur Academy graduate is keen to get his career going in his country of birth. Whether that is at Coventry remains to be seen, not least because he was limited to 19 starts in all competitions and four appearances from the bench.
His opportunities were further restricted by a change from a back five to a four just before Christmas until a three match ban for Liam Kitching opened the door over the festive period.
Revealing a mid-term heart-to-heart with Robins, Binsk said: “I spoke to the manager and said that I wanted to play games and he said that I need to bide my time, just like he told me at the start of the season. And the time came and I obviously played against Swansea and, personally, I thought I did all right. Obviously it’s different not having played for that long.
“I think it was just over two months, so it was always going to be me trying to find my feet, getting back in the rhythm and trying not to do anything wrong and just steadying myself and playing myself back in. I felt it could have gone better but it could have gone worse, but there’s a lot more to come.”
He added: “I hadn’t played in a four until I got back in. It’s been frustrating not playing but all the time the team are winning it makes it difficult for the manager to change things, so I understand that. But like I say, I want to play and luckily when I have played we’ve picked up points.”
Asked if he ever contemplated returning to Italy in January by asking Bologna to trigger his recall, he said: “No, it never entered my head to go back. I told the manager and other people that I want to continue in England, whether that be here or somewhere else. I hope I will be here but I want to come back home and play my football here.”
He added: “Going to all the grounds this year has shown me it’s proper football over here in England. In Italy it was great and I enjoyed my time there but I do want to come back to England and I haven’t thought about going back.”
So in an ideal world does he see himself as a permanent signing for Coventry?
“Yeah, as I said, I’m enjoying it here and hopefully it will be here. But if not, then somewhere else in England. I’ll have to see. Maybe the club don’t want me, maybe things won’t work out but we’ll see.”
Bologna’s stance
Asked if the seven times Italian champions have been in touch and expressed concern that he’s not been in the team, he admitted earlier in the season: “No, to be fair I haven’t really spoken to them. They are doing well in their league and right now I feel like a Coventry player.
“I am not really thinking about Bologna or speaking to them. I feel like I am part of Coventry and just focused on trying to get promotion this year and getting in the team. I don’t know what will happen going forward but I am really happy here at the minute.”
The Gillingham-born defender is contracted for another two and a half years at Bologna, but said: “I have got a few years left there but come the summer I will try to work something out.”
It’s unusual for a parent club not to keep tabs on a loan player on a week to week basis, so does he think that speaks volumes in terms of where he stands in their eyes?
“Yeah, but I kind of knew that was going to happen because I was on loan in Italy last year,” he said. “I spoke to them probably once or twice throughout the season last year. I have got friends there that are on loan and they only spoke to them once or twice as well, so I don’t know if that’s how they do it. I don’t know if they are watching from afar but I haven’t spoken to them and you could say that it shows something.”
He added: “But from when I had the season there and was playing, the manager has changed and the players and directors are different, so the club doesn’t seem like the club that I knew because there’s been a lot of change there. So I will have to see, come the summer.
“I think it’s difficult when you are a loan player because you want to be settled and become the club’s asset rather than an outsider. So I think it’s quite important that this summer I don’t go on loan again but become a player at a club who are investing in me and have got me for the long run. And hopefully that will happen this summer.
“I feel like I have improved and whenever I chat with the coaches and the manager they seem happy, and we all seem on the same page, so hopefully this summer we’ll see.”
What’s potentially standing in the way of a move?
The fact that he has two years left on his contract means that Bologna are likely to want a transfer fee for the player whose wages may also be an issue. City also have to weigh up who else is out there and available to see if there are players with more potential at a better price.
