Sideways Sammy

If Milan van Ewijk doesn’t end up staying at Coventry City, the club have moved to sign someone who seems the most natural replacement on the market. Technically strong and with blistering pace, Kaine Kesler-Hayden can be expected to be that driving presence from right-back that the team has come to depend upon over the past two years. After a series of impressive loan spells at Championship level, Kesler-Hayden is someone who is ready to settle down at a permanent club and mature as a footballer. For both the player and the club, it feels a case of right place and right time.

Kaine Kesler-Hayden’s biggest strengths as a right-back are in his dribbling and pace, someone who can really stretch opponents with devastating runs from deep. Compared to Milan van Ewijk, Kesler-Hayden is more direct and attack-minded and may have to tailor his game towards helping circulate possession in the manner Frank Lampard likes his full-backs to do from time-to-time. Another area where Kesler-Hayden will find himself under the spotlight will be in his defending, especially as he has played a lot of football in recent years at wing-back, where he could focus primarily on using his pace in a forward direction, now, he’ll have to consider how he can use his speed to cover the back-line in the manner Van Ewijk is so strong at.

While Kaine Kesler-Hayden has occasionally played further forward, and as a left wing-back, his signing strongly indicates that Milan van Ewijk is set to move on from Coventry City. Kesler-Hayden is the level of player who simply wouldn’t have signed if he hadn’t been guaranteed regular starts in his preferred position. Encouragingly, he is someone who has the ability to almost seamlessly step into the team in Milan van Ewjik’s place and could quickly develop into a real asset for the club. It is a sign of the club’s model working that as one player leaves, there is a replacement of similar ability already through the door.