Sideways Sammy

Brighton & Hove Albion youngster, Yasin Ayari, steps into the unenviable position of being the first player signed by Coventry City to replace Gustavo Hamer after arriving at the club on a season-long loan deal. The 19-year-old Swede has some pedigree behind him, starring in the Swedish top-flight for one of the big Stockholm clubs, AIK, before joining Brighton in January and impressing enough to earn a Premier League start before the end of last season. The big question hanging over the addition of Ayari is how those early experiences translate into Championship football in an environment where he’ll be expected to make a quick impact.

A small but technically gifted midfielder who has a good range of passing and can also carry the ball forward with the ball at his feet, Yasin Ayari is likely to feature in a deep midfield position for Coventry City. The technical side of midfield play shouldn’t be a problem for Ayari at Championship level, but his time at the club could be defined by how he handles the physical side. While his time in Sweden indicated that he can perform his fair share of defensive duties, doing so in a quicker, more physical league will be the toughest challenge he has yet faced. If Ayari can cope with that well enough, he will have then have the platform to excel with the ball, as it is expected that he will be able to.

It is a lot to ask for a 19-year-old loan signing to replace one of the division’s best players, which is why it would be a concern if Yasin Ayari was the only midfield addition between now and the end of the window. While there are promising signs on Ayari’s early CV, it will only be when he actually starts playing that it will be known just what kind of impact he will be able to make at the Championship level. In a summer where the focus at Coventry City has been on investing in permanent players, any loan signing has to be especially impactful. The biggest reason to believe in Ayari right now is that anyone signed by Brighton & Hove over the last few years has tended to be a good player, which could be enough to indicate that Yasin Ayari is one of the better loan signings the Sky Blues could have made this summer.