Coventry City have snapped up two new forwards, sealing moves for Taiwo Awoniyi (£5.5m) and Sidiki Cherif (£5.0m) in recent days.
But what does the arrival of Awoniyi and Cherif mean for Ellis Simms (£5.0m), who had led Frank Lampard’s side with two goals in pre-season and was expected by many to deputise up front in place of the injured Haji Wright (£5.5m)?
And what does it mean, in turn, for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers who were planning to rely on Simms as a budget-friendly third forward for a Gameweek 2 Bench Boost, when Coventry are set to host Hull City?
WHO IS AWONIYI?
Awoniyi is no stranger to FPL, having been at Nottingham Forest since a 2022/23 campaign which saw him score 10 goals in 27 Premier League appearances. He managed that despite missing just under three months with a groin injury.
Injuries, including surgery on his groin, restricted the Nigeria international to 20 league outings the following year, though he still managed six goals and three assists.
More issues followed in 2024/25, a season where Awoniyi scored just once in 26 appearances – largely as a late-game substitute. Last term, he registered four goals and two assists in 17 appearances, 14 as a substitute.
Herein lies a chance for a fresh start, then, for a strong centre-forward who can bring valuable (and recent) top-flight experience to a club that has not been on this stage for well over two decades.
“I’m not concerned about it.
“There’s a reason why Taiwo leaves Nottingham Forest to come to us. We really like him and we hope he’s going to be great for us, but we’re aware of that [injury record].
“I flip that to more the mental side of Taiwo, that’s obviously probably frustrated with game time. So, I like a player that comes in hungry to play and get his minutes.
“Of course, medically, we have to look after him and prepare him, but I like a player that’s coming in wanting to be the man and wanting to play more minutes. So, that’s great.” – Frank Lampard on Taiwo Awoniyi’s fitness record
“Power, strength, a player that can hold the ball up, can run behind are things in the Premier League I think are very, very valuable.” – Frank Lampard on Taiwo Awoniyi
WHO IS CHERIF?
Then there’s Cherif.
A decade Awoniyi’s junior, the 19-year-old Guinea-born, France-raised forward arrives from Turkish side Fenerbahce, where he netted twice in 12 Turkish Super Lig appearances after signing from French side Angers on loan with an obligation to buy in February.
It was with Angers that Cherif made his professional debut in the 2023/24 campaign and when the club won promotion to Ligue 1 for the following season, the teenager stepped up, scoring four league goals before the turn of the year.
Having also been capped at U16 and U21 level by France, he attracted plenty of interest from around Europe during recent transfer windows before joining Fenerbahce.
Despite his young age, Cherif has already played in the Europa League and also took part in this season’s Champions League qualifiers with Fenerbahce prior to joining Coventry.
“I think with Sidi he’ll be different to Taiwo, but again the ability to be able to run behind, a young positive move from us as a club because we like to try and develop players, it’s been the model here for previous years – but now we’re in the Premier League so those models cost a lot more money.
“But if we can work with him to improve him he also brings his own attributes and I never like to just single out that area of the pitch because in the Premier League everything’s important that you get it right, hence where we’ve gone through the spine of the team a little bit to try and help the squad.
“But if you haven’t got that threat, if I haven’t got those options which every Premier League teams need at the front of the pitch, it’s hard to maintain a threat, so hopefully those boys help with that.” – Frank Lampard on Sidiki Cherif
WHAT DOES THEIR ARRIVAL MEAN FOR SIMMS – AND THOMAS ASANTE?
Before the signings of Awoniyi and Cherif were revealed, we expected the quad injury suffered by Wright to mean that Simms would lead the line, as he did to finish pre-season. Brandon Thomas-Asante (£5.0m) cutting in from the left wing plus new signing Loum Tchaouna (£5.5m) on the right.
After all, Simms scored 13 times in the Championship last season (so did Thomas-Asante), and finished with the league’s best rate for efforts per 90 (4.20) and shots on target per 90 (1.88) despite playing second fiddle to Wright.
Simms played more pre-season minutes (363) than any other Coventry player, too, en route to his team-high two goals, while Awoniyi played a bit-part role for Forest but did still manage a goal and an assist in his 135 pre-season minutes.
Given his familiarity with the squad and Lampard’s style of play, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Simms up front in Gameweek 1 against Arsenal on Friday evening.
But past that point, and – crucially – by the time of Gameweek 2’s home meeting with Hull City?
By then, Awoniyi will have had another full week to train and get up to speed with his new teammates, and could well be pushing – see “wanting to be the man” and “more minutes” comments from Lampard above – for at least a substantial cameo off the bench if not a start, likely at Simms’ expense.
Lampard’s early comments suggest Cherif may be seen as more of a back-up option who will be gently eased into Premier League action, but the presence of this new pair is certainly enough to put a damper on hopes that Simms will be a reliable £5.0m starter up front for Coventry, even as early as Gameweek 2 when many FPL managers were considering him for a Bench Boost.
