Championship side Coventry City are reportedly set to enter crunch talks after launching a formal bid to sign Swedish goalkeeper Oliver Dovin from Allsvenskan side Hammarby, ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
The 21-year-old shot-stopper is believed to be a target for Mark Robins’ side as the club continue their search for a new goalkeeper after missing out on the play-off places during the previous campaign.
However, it now appears as though the Sky Blues have found their man in the form of Oliver Dovin, with an official bid being submitted for the goalkeeper although the two clubs are set for talks due to a distance in fees.
How did Dovin fared this season?
Currently, the 21-year-old has made 12 league appearances for Hammarby so far this season, keeping three clean sheets and has also earned two caps for the Swedish national team.
He has also averaged a 79% pass completion rate, appearing to be comfortable with the ball at his feet which suits Mark Robins’ style of play and has averaged 3.3 saves per match thus far.
Across his entire league career, Dovin has kept a respectable 24 clean sheets in 67 matches.
Why hasn’t a deal been agreed yet?
According to Swedish journalist Daniel Kristoffersson, Coventry City have officially submitted a bid for the 21-year-old but the two clubs haven’t came to a formal agreement with the figure.
In an article for Sport Bladet, Kristoffersson stated that Hammarby wanted ’30 miljoner’ for the goalkeeper which is the equivalent of around £2.2 million, but it is unclear as to how much the Sky Blues have offered.
Would Dovin be the number one at Coventry?
During the 2023/24 campaign, Coventry City signed Barnsley’s Brad Collins, who joined Liam Kitching and Bobby Thomas at the CBS Arena whilst competing alongside Ben Wilson who won the Championship’s Golden Glove award during the 2022/23 campaign as Mark Robins’ men made the play-off final.
However, the club conceded 13 more goals last season, lost four more matches and failed to make the play-offs, although Mark Robins’ side was much changed during the previous campaign following the sales of Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer.
Therefore, an argument could be made that the Sky Blues are in fact looking for a new number one, rather than a new goalkeeper and bringing in a Swedish international is certainly a positive step forward.
Although Dovin is only 21, spending seven figures on a new number goalkeeper would almost certainly indicate that he could be the new first choice goalkeeper next season.