The second new signing down the left-sided centre-back hatch, Jonathan Panzo adds genunie competition to Coventry City’s back-line. A Chelsea youth-team graduate and a member of the England youth side that won the under-17 World Cup in 2017 (featuring Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden and Callum Hudson-Odoi, among others), Jonathan Panzo has a fine footballing pedigree. While Panzo has relatively little senior experience, he has had a reasonably impressive season in the French top-flight, with Dijon, under his belt to suggest that there is tangible talent on top of the promise he showed in his youth career.
Primarily, Jonathan Panzo is a left-sided centre-back and looks to have been signed by Coventry City to play there. Due to his pace, Panzo has played a decent amount of football at left-back in back four, but it may be a stretch for him to operate at wing-back. Panzo’s primary attributes are his pace and technical ability, which is why he’s been signed to play for this Coventry City side despite his relative lack of senior experience. Panzo’s pace will provide cover for the defence when they push forward, while that technical ability can see him carry the ball out of defence to stretch opponents. Defensively, Panzo has shown that he can compete against a good standard of opposition forwards, with his speed a useful get-out-of-jail option when he gets caught out positionally.
The signing of Jonathan Panzo, alongside that of Callum Doyle, provides the team with genuine competition for that starting role on the left of the defence. Of the two, Panzo is probably the more natural replacement for Jake Clarke-Salter, while Doyle offers greater passing ability. While Panzo has shown promise in his career thus far, his relative lack of experience is the major area of concern. It shows where Coventry City are as a football club that they have to take a risk on a with such little grounding in senior football, and on loan, but Panzo may prove to be an educated gamble. Jonathan Panzo adds useful competition to the back-line, whether he provides the requisite upgrade in terms of quality will only become apparent as the season unfolds.
Sideways Sammy 