Doug King gives ‘beefed up’ reply to Coventry City transfer question as Premier League beckons
Coventry City are three games from a return to the Premier League – and all the welcome complications that come with it
Doug King is adamant Coventry City have the time and staff to prepare for the Premier League should the Sky Blues come through the play-off lottery.
Frank Lampard’s men confirmed their place in the end-of-season showdown when they defeated Middlesbrough on the final day of the campaign to clinch fifth.
They also booked a two-leg semi-final with Doug King the first half of which takes place at the CBS Arena on Friday, May 9, with a view to reaching the final at Wembley on Saturday, May 24.
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King appeared on talkSPORT to discuss the season, Lampard’s achievement and how he has to prepare for 2025/26 not knowing which division the club are going to be in.
“We do a lot of work. We’ve really beefed up our recruitment team in the last two years, when I came in Dean Austin had just joined us and we had him and somebody else,” the Sky Blues owner told talkSPORT.
We’ve now got seven or eight, we do a lot of work, a lot of data, we hit all the leagues, this is hugely important for us.
I come from that industry, we have to know where’s value, where’s risk reward, especially for a Championship football club. So, we do have multiple lists of what we’re doing.
“But look, we’ve got loads of time, right? I mean if we get through on May 24th which would be incredible, we’ve then got a month to work out what we want to do, and there’s lots of players, there’s lots of options and that’s great.”
Hands on Frank Lampard has half an eye on Coventry City’s summer transfer window
Coventry City transfer news from CoventryLive as Frank Lampard discusses where the club are at when it comes to summer recruitment amid two very different scenarios
It’s an exciting time for Coventry City. Frank Lampard has led the Sky Blues to the play-offs and the club are potentially just three steps away from promotion back to the Premier League.
There will have to be a huge effort to achieve that feat, of course, not least getting the better of Sunderland over two legs in the semi-finals to book their place at Wembley to have a one-off crack at making the leap to the big time.
But whatever happens, whether City are successful in joining the big boys or fall short and continue in the Championship next season, there’s a steely determination for the club to keep improving and evolving. Key to that, of course, is recruitment.
READ MORE: Frank Lampard opens up on Jose Mourinho and influence of the ‘Special One’ on his own management style
READ MORE: Coventry City transfer notebook: Awaiting clarity as Sky Blues poised to act in summer window
As it stands the club are still planning for two very different outcomes. Promotion would change the financial landscape at the club and City would suddenly find themselves shopping in a very different market to the one in which they’ve been operating in recent years.
