Frank Lampard reacts as Southampton and Sheffield United plot £23m double swoop for Coventry City stars

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With bids reportedly arriving from Southampton and Sheffield United, the transfer window cannot end soon enough for Coventry City and Frank Lampard.

After falling at the final hurdle in 2023 and suffering stoppage-time heartbreak at Sunderland in May, the prospect of another promotion push in the West Midlands may rest on what happens between now and the start of September.

EFL Analysis can confirm, via chief football correspondent Graeme Bailey, that Frank Lampard is urging Coventry to keep Jack Rudoni in the face of interest elsewhere in the Championship, not to mention the Premier League.

While Leicester City and Newcastle United have been linked, Southampton are pushing hard for the former Huddersfield ace.

According to The Sun’s Jack Rosser, Southampton saw an opening bid fall well short of Coventry’s asking price last week. Rudoni, who scored nine Championship goals last term, is reportedly valued at £15 million.

Peter O’Rourke then claimed on Friday afternoon that an £8 million offer had arrived from Sheffield United for towering centre-back Bobby Thomas.

Though, speaking to the Coventry Telegraph ahead of Saturday’s early kick-off away to Derby County, Lampard reiterated his desire to keep a perennially overachieving squad together.

Frank Lampard reacts as Sheffield United and Southampton bid for Bobby Thomas and Jack Rudoni

Coventry bounced back impressively after losing Callum O’Hare to the Blades this time last year.

O’Hare, though, was out of contract. In contrast, Rudoni and Thomas are tied down until 2028 and 2027 respectively, meaning the Sky Blues hold all the cards.

“We want to do the best and my job is to try and push the best players, coach them well and if we can bring in better players, it helps us to move forwards. I think that’s clear,” Chelsea icon Lampard begins.

“That’s not just me talking, that’s in general. But I don’t ask for those assurances because, at the end of the day, I understand how a club works and the position a club works under.

“I have worked for quite a few owners now and I respect their position. I want to keep the best players, for sure, because I know that makes my job… not easier, but we want to have success and they’re crucial to it.

“But to ask for absolute assurances on any player as a manager, I don’t think [I can realistically do that]…”

Ruben Selles wants defenders as Sheffield United target Thomas

Interest in Rudoni from the banks of the Solent may be the result of uncertainty surrounding the future of Mateus Fernandes.

West Ham and Leeds like the Portuguese playmaker, with the former allegedly seeing a £30 million bid turned away earlier this week.

Over in Yorkshire, a frustrated Ruben Selles plans to strengthen Sheffield United’s backline before the window closes. Hence, that Bobby Thomas offer.

EFL Analysis can confirm that Ben Godfrey, currently in Italy with Atalanta is another option. So too Chris Mepham, back at Bournemouth after helping Sunderland past Coventry in the play-off semi-final during his stellar loan spell on Wearside.

“You’ve only got to look at the mobility of the market,” Lampard accepts. “Everywhere in the Championship, it heats up through the last two weeks, and in the Premier League. So I think that the old days of asking for absolute assurances when there was less mobility, they’re not here anymore.”

“I just want to keep my best players and that’s it.”