Conor Coventry will be given his chance to impress in pre-season as David Moyes weighs up whether or not to give the West Ham United midfielder a chance in the Premier League, as reported by The Athletic.
With speculation suggesting that a 21-year-old academy graduate may be handed an opportunity to stake his claim, it is worth casting your mind back to the start of 2020.
At the time, The Standard were reporting that Moyes had been impressed by a highly-rated youngster by the name of Josh Cullen; a late-blooming enforcer who hadn’t made a single first-team appearance for the Hammers in the previous two seasons.
But when the summer rolled around, the Republic of Ireland international was packing his bags and heading to Anderlecht instead, joining the Belgian giants in search of regular action.
12 months on, Conor Coventry finds himself in a similar position.
It remains to be seen whether he will take the Cullen route out of the London Stadium or instead decide to stick around in the hope that an opportunity will finally present itself.
The signs certainly look good. But, then again, they looked good for Cullen too.
Will Conor Coventry force his way into West Ham’s plans?
According to The Athletic, Coventry will feature for the Hammers in pre-season. There is still a chance, however, that a man who played seven games on loan at Lincoln City in 2020 will be farmed out again.
At 21, Coventry will have to make the step up from U23 football at some point in the near future and it is not as if he has loads of time on his side.
The London-born midfielder did impress during the club’s 2020/21 Premier League 2 campaign, however, scoring five times in 18 games.
There is certainly room in Moyes’ squad for a dynamic, box-to-box enforcer, although Coventry’s prospects will be hit hard if West Ham bring in the likes of Ellyes Skhiri or Yangel Herrera.
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