Devastating Coventry City setback demonstrates Sky Blues’ failure during the January transfer window.

The Sky Blues lost out on promotion to the Premier League last season after they lost at Wembley in the the play-off final to Luton Town in a penalty shootout.

They also lost arguably their two best players in the aftermath, with Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer departing for Sporting CP and Sheffield United respectively, bringing in plenty of cash for owner Doug King to re-invest.

Coventry spent a lot and recruited smartly as they looked to go one further in the 2023-24 season and win promotion, and one of their better signings from the summer was Tatsuhiro Sakamoto – but Sky Blues fans have seen the last of the versatile attacker until next season.

Sakamoto injury is a massive blow for Coventry’s play-off chances

Sakamoto has been one of the most underrated signings in the league this season and has perhaps gone under the radar for some.

The 27-year-old joined from Belgian side KV Oostende, for a fee reported to be £1.2 million, signing a three-year deal at the CBS Arena.

The Japan international was having a great season on the right wing for Coventry, contributing to nine goals in 29 Championship games.

Sakamoto has benefitted extremely from Coventry’s change in formation to a 4-2-3-1 from three at the back, with the tactical tweak allowing the Japan international to go further forward and provide more attacking threat as opposed to being a wing-back.

Unfortunately for him and Coventry though, he was forced off in the defeat to Preston North End in the first half after he landed badly from an aerial duel with Lilywhites defender Andrew Hughes, and it saw the wing wizard stretchered off and taken to hospital.

It has since been confirmed that the injury will keep him on the sidelines for the rest of the season and for Coventry’s promotion hopes it is awful news, with the Sky Blues wanting to keep all their players fit for the run-in – especially ones that are contributing to goals.

Coventry’s failure to sign a winger in January could prove costly

With Sakamoto now sidelined, it now raises question marks as to who takes his place in the team.

Kasey Palmer was the man to replace him against PNE, whilst Fabio Tavares started on the right in the FA Cup win over Maidstone United.

This arguably puts them both as the front-runners to take Sakamoto’s place in the team, but the issue is that neither are natural wingers – Palmer is an attacking midfielder who if playing out wide would probably be best suited to the left cutting in.

Tavares meanwhile is a striker but he is left-footed, meaning he could be the viable short-term solution – having only just recently returned from a long-term achilles injury though and with a lack of senior footballing experience, the 23-year-old may find himself overawed against Championship full-backs.

This conundrum that Coventry have now found themselves in begs the question of why they did not sign a winger in the January transfer window that they could call upon right now, with no like-for-like replacement amongst their ranks.

Ephron Mason-Clark was acquired from League One promotion chasers Peterborough United for a fee believed to be £4.25 million, but with Posh unable to bag a viable replacement on time, the only way the move was going through was if the 24-year-old was loaned back to London Road for the rest of the season.

Coventry got ahead of the chasing pack for the summer that was likely to have assembled, but it meant they left themselves very short for the final few months of the current campaign – and the decision to not bring in an immediate signing in that area is now looking like a poor one from King and Robins.

The Sky Blues are now desperate for a winger on the right-hand side, and the absence of Sakamoto could massively detriment their chances of finishing in the top six.

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