FLW compares the market value of the Sky Blues playing squad to their main rivals Leicester City
With Coventry City and Leicester City both competing in the EFL Championship this season, the rivalry has been ignited again between the Midlands pair.
On the opening day of the campaign, the two sides met face-to-face in the M69 derby for the first time since 2012, with the Sky Blues edged out by the quality of Enzo Maresca’s side, falling to a 2-1 defeat after a Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall brace cancelled out Kyle McFadzean’s opener.
After two promotions from League Two back to the second tier since the 2017/18 season, Coventry came close to replacing Leicester in the Premier League but were beaten in the play-off final narrowly on penalties by Luton Town back in May.
An 18th placed finish in the top-flight last campaign brought an end to Leicester’s nine-year consecutive stay in the Premier League, and now competition between the sides is at an all-time high.
During the summer transfer window, Mark Robins was able to recruit 11 new players to the CBS Arena while signing off the big money departures of Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer to Sporting Lisbon and Sheffield United respectively.
Football League World used data from Transfermarkt to compare Coventry’s market value to that of Leicester, their nearest competitors, when the transfer window closed on September 1st.
What is the overall market value of Coventry City?
This season, the Sky Blues have a 23-man roster with a total market value of just over £53 million.
Right-back Milan van Ewijk, a recent summer acquisition from Heerenveen of the Eredivisie, is the highest-paid player on the active roster.
The 23-year-old has featured regularly in the opening five games of the new season and scored his first goal for the club in spectacular fashion with a 30-yard free kick in the Sky Blues’ most recent 3-3 draw with Watford.
After representing the Netherlands at Under-21 level and with a host of experience in the Dutch top-flight, van Ewijk is valued at £7 million.
Following close behind are the new signings of Haji Wright and Yasin Ayari, who both earn a valuation of £6 million.
Fellow arrival Ellis Simms from Everton is at £4 million while the more experienced professionals Ben Sheaf (£3.8 million), Callum O’Hare (£3.5 million), Jake Bidwell (£2 million), Josh Eccles (£2 million) and Jamie Allen (£1.2 million) all command respectable fees.
How does it compare to Leicester City’s market value?
In comparison to Coventry, Leicester have a 28-man squad at their disposal, and after keeping the core of the team that suffered relegation from the top-flight, the Foxes are far superior financially to their Championship rivals; despite losing some key men, the exodus could have been worse, as the table below shows.
The overall market worth of the entire playing group, which is more than four times as much as their Midlands counterparts, is a remarkable £252 million, in addition to earning their first round of parachute payments from the Premier League.
Wilfred Ndidi and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, who each receive fees of £25 million, are the two most expensive players.
In addition to Wout Faes ($20 million), James Justin ($20 million), Kelechi Iheanacho ($18 million), and Patson Daka ($18 million), there are also eight-figure valuations for Harry Souttar ($15 million), Conor Coady ($12 million), Cesare Casadei ($12 million), Ricardo Pereira ($10 million), Harry Winks ($10 million), and Callum Doyle ($10 million).
With Leicester one of the heavyweights to drop back down to the second tier after a lengthy stay in the Premier League, it is hardly a surprise to see the money from their squad blow Coventry out of the water alongside many other Championship clubs.
With this, chances of promotion will, of course, become slimmer for the Sky Blues, but they have proved to the division last season that you can still be highly competitive with clever recruitment and a strong team togetherness.
From the experience, Robins will be more determined than ever to deliver Premier League football to the Coventry faithful for the first time since 2001.
