Why Sheffield Wednesday’s Caolan Lavery would be a great signing for Coventry City

Sheffield Wednesday forward Caolan Lavery is expected to sign for Coventry City over the forthcoming weeks, with the Sky Blues heavily linked with a move for the 23-year-old forward, according to The Star.

The 2014/15 campaign saw Lavery begin to cement his place in the first-team at Hillsborough under then head coach Stuart Gray after gaining experience dring successful loan spells at Southend United and Plymouth Argyle.

But the 5ft 11in ace fell victim of a place in the starting XI at Wednesday as new chairman Dejphon Chansiri and manager Carlos Carvalhal implemented their own ideas at the club. The arrival of Fernando Forestieri, Lucas Joao and Gary Hooper saw the trio become regular starters in the Owls squad, seeing Caolan slip down the pecking order.

Lavery spent the majority of last season on loan at Portsmouth, scoring four goals in 13 appearances – Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.

Lavery made 34 league appearances in total for the Owls, scoring six goals. The most notable goals scored by the former Northern Ireland Under-21 international was a brace in the 6-0 demolition of Leeds United after coming on as a second-half substitute back in January 2014.

Canadian-born Lavery has scored 15 career goals in 66 league appearances.

He spent the majority of the 2015/16 season out on loan with League Two Portsmouth. Pompey have also been rumoured to have shown an interest in the Owls forward, who can be signed as a free agent should he fail to agree a new deal at Hillsborough.

The Wednesday striker; who can also play on the wing, has been called up to the Northern Ireland squad on a few occasions, but has yet to make his senior international debut.

As a ‘new era’ begins in the blue and white side of Sheffield, Lavery may unfortunately be shown the exit door. Many of the Hillsborough faithful would be disappointed to see Caolan leave due to his promising and developing ability.

At 23; I am sure Lavery would be the first to admit that game time is key, so now may be the time to move on.

The former Ipswich Town youth player’s key attributes include movement off the ball, pace, skipping past defenders and finishing.

Lavery would be held in high regard at any club due to his high work rate and determination. The future is bright for Lavery, everyone wishes you all the best on your journey – either as an Owl or a Sky Blue.