The record-breaking transfer will cheer up Coventry City fans: View

Coventry City still hold high hopes of sneaking into the play-off places come the end of the season.

The Sky Blues have a chance of squeaking inside the top six with nine games remaining of the regular season, sitting just a point off Hull City and Norwich City for that final spot.

Mark Robins’ men got within touching distance of returning to the Premier League last term, losing out on penalties to Luton Town in the play-off final after originally beating Middlesbrough over two legs.

Expectations had lowered at the CBS Arena after the summer transfer window, as Coventry signed off the departures of two key figures to the success of last term, with midfielder Gustavo Hamer joining top-flight outfit Sheffield United, while last season’s top scorer Viktor Gyokores moved to Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon, and has continued his goalscoring success in Southern Europe.

After gaining a reported £18.5 million fee for the Swedish marksman and a further £15 million for Hamer, the East Midlands-based club elected to spend some of those funds on American striker Haji Wright from Turkish side Antalyaspor.

The Sky Blues paid a reported club-record fee of £7.7 million for the 25-year-old, and the Coventry supporters are beginning to see why the investment was made after a fine run of goalscoring form heading into the final run-in.

Haji Wright’s debut season for Coventry City

Deployed to lead the line or be a presence out wide, Wright would open his account in the second tier on his home debut in a 3-0 victory over Middlesbrough.

The California-born frontman wasn’t prolific during his early stint, netting nine games later against Blackburn Rovers.

Wright would begin to find his goalscoring boots between November and December, recording six goals and three assists from 12 games leading into 2024.

Despite a slight blip in front of goal, Wright would re-establish himself as Coventry’s leading scorer for the term over the last month, registering a brace in a 2-1 victory over Millwall back in February before scoring penalties against West Brom and Watford, as well as notching a winner against the Hornets to keep the club within touching distance of the play-offs.

To add to the 13 Championship goals he’s scored, Wright has also turned provider when needed, recording six assists throughout this season in games against Watford, Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham United and both clashes with Swansea City.

Coventry City supporters are beginning to believe in Haji Wright investment

After a slow start to life in the East Midlands, it’s safe to say many Coventry fans wouldn’t have expected the amount of goals Wright has managed to collect heading into the final portion of the season.

It was always going to be a massive task to replace the gaping hole left by Gyokores, but for Wright to collect just shy of 20 goal contributions in his opening season is testament to the potential he holds to be a big name in the English game over the next few years.

Wright is definitely a work in progress for Coventry at this moment in time, with the American probably feeling he should have even more goals to his name after missing some key chances during this term. Wright has had 29 shots on target and will be disappointed to not find the back of the net on more than 13 occasions so far.

Regardless of this, there are positive signs to be seen from Wright, who continues to get himself into promising goalscoring positions and will undoubtedly improve with more time, further adding to his tally.

As Coventry still remain in the fight for promotion, Wright could push the Sky Blues into the mix if he can keep up a consistent run of goalscoring.

If this form in front of goal gives them another shot of returning to the Premier League, then Coventry’s investment will be seen as a stroke of genius.