Remark on Coventry City star Haji Wright: “Only let him go for silly money”

The American international joined Coventry in the summer from Turkish club Antalyaspor for a club record transfer fee of €9million, and he’s proved a success so far.

After a slow start to the season, Mark Robins’ side are just two points off the Championship play-off places and are into the FA Cup quarter-final where they’ll face Wolves on Saturday.

It has the potential to be a special campaign for the Sky Blues, and Wright could play a big role in helping the club achieve their goals come May.

Coventry City fan pundit offers Haji Wright verdict

The 25-year-old attacker has proved a good addition to Mark Robins’ ranks, and has helped soften the blow of losing influential striker Viktor Gyokeres to Sporting Lisbon in the summer.

FLW’s Coventry City fan pundit Neil Littlewood believes that Wright has been a good addition to the squad and the club should do all they can to keep him in the summer.

“Haji’s a weird one. He goes in and out of games, the Watford game was a perfect example,” explained Neil.

In the first half, he didn’t look interested. His first touch was poor, making the wrong runs, but then he scored a brilliant penalty.

In the second half, the ball comes to him, great first touch, great finish, two goals, and we win 2-1 – that’s what your strikers are paid to do.

“I think he’s more effective from the left, rather than up front with Ellis Simms. He’s surprised me with how well he’s taken to the league, he’s scored some important goals against some good sides as well.

“He’s shown that he’s capable, but there are times when he’s frustrating to watch because he’s a big lad but doesn’t seem to use his physicality much, which is what I’d like to see a bit more of from him.

“I think he’s integrated himself well, and he was always going to be up against it because he had big boots to fill.

“A lot of Cov fans thought he was going to come in and be Gyokeres’ replacement, but he and Ellis Simms have really shouldered that burden and between the two of them they’ve replicated the goals that Gyokeres scored, so that’s shown we’ve done some good business with the pair of them.”

At 25, Wright still has his best years ahead of him and Coventry will want to keep hold of him for a bit longer yet, as they only signed him last summer.

“In terms of what his ceiling is, on his day I think he’s capable of playing in the Premier League, and he fits the bill, he’s tall, quick and can take a player on,” Neil added.

“I remember the first time I saw him at Leicester away on the first day of the season, and he had a barnstorming run down the left-hand side, beat two defenders and the keeper made a great save to tip his effort onto the bar. It made you think this fella is decent.

“He’s played for the USA in the World Cup, he’s got international caps, and he’s going the right way about getting back into that squad.”

As for potential transfer interest this coming summer, Neil believes the club should do all they can to keep him, but understands there could be offers the club can’t refuse.

“If someone came calling in the summer, I’d tell them to get lost. We’re one year into a five-year project, so as much as you need to buy players and sell them on for a profit like we did with Hamer and Gyokeres, I think it’s too soon to do that with Haji,” said Neil.

“If a ludicrous offer came in for him, like £15-£20m, a club like Coventry can’t afford to turn that down, especially if that could be used on three or four new players to further strengthen the squad.

“We had £35million for Hamer and Gyokeres, and we’ve built a completely new squad which has scored more goals than at this point last season and has conceded less, so if that’s the process we have to trust it, but I’d only let him go for silly money.

Haji Wright’s time at Coventry City

Haji Wright has made 39 appearances with the Sky Blues across all competitions, totaling 14 goals and 7 assists.

With 13 goals and 6 assists in 35 league games, he has contributed 19 goals overall, which is a very respectable return.

Wright is a flexible player who has alternated between playing up front and on the left this season.

Wright has 13 goals with an xG of 15.76 and 6 assists with an expected assist rate of 1.33, according to Footmob.

He has made 21 opportunities, a 40.6% dribble success rate, a passing accuracy of 70.5%, and 174 touches in the opposition’s box.

Given the club record fee paid for him, Wright had high standards to live up to, and he’s passed the test with flying colours.

He’s been a great addition to the Coventry side and everyone at the club will be hoping he remains at the CBS Arena for a while yet.

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