Coventry’s marquee signing will be able to face his old side this season

Coventry City secured the signing of 21-year old Conor Chaplin yesterday, on an initial loan leading to a £500,000 switch in January.

Even though he’s on loan, it has been revealed the striker is able to face up against Pompey when the two sides meet at the Ricoh Arena in early October.

Usually, clubs insist on a clause in loan deals that states their player is not allowed to play against their parent club, but Mark Robins admits there’s no such clause in this deal.

Robins told Coventry Live: “There’s nothing in there (the contract) and he can play in the league. The wording was strange but if we draw Portsmouth in a cup competition then he can’t play in that, so that was one of the rules in the agreement.”

The Sky Blues landed Chaplin after beating off a late bid from Barnsley, as well as strong interest from Bristol Rovers and Championship Blackburn Rovers. The striker has joined on a three-and-a-half-year deal which will begin after the initial loan has been completed.

Our View

The lack of clause shows that in most eyes, this is a permanent switch in all but the finest of details. It is another way to circumnavigate the transfer rules and sign a player permanently.

This farcical situation is bound to be stopped next season, making deals such as this a thing of the past.

He could be a big player for the Sky Blues, he needs to be after the departure of McNulty and the injury to Biamou.