David Moyes makes transfer admission over West Ham’s…

David Moyes makes transfer admission over West Ham’s Conor Coventry after starring vs Silkeborg

West Ham United boss David Moyes admits that midfielder Conor Coventry had the opportunity to leave the Hammers in the summer, but opted to stay.

The midfielder, who has captained the Republic of Ireland at under-21s level, made his second start for the first team and impressed for the Hammers during their 1-0 win over Silkeborg on Thursday night, booking them a place in the Europa Conference League’s knockout rounds

With Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek, Flynn Downes and Manuel Lanzini all standing in his way as competition in central midfield, Coventry has found minutes tough to come by this term, with both of his starts so far coming in the Europa Conference League at home to Danish sides Viborg and Silkeborg.

Coventry impressed and came close to scoring in the first half in West Ham’s penultimate Group B game, having had loan spells with Peterborough United and Milton Keynes Dons last season.

Moyes has spoken highly of him and has compared him to Josh Cullen, who left the club to join Anderlecht in 2020 and has since gone on to sign for Championship side Burnley.

“Conor is a good player and it has been difficult to get him some minutes,” said Moyes. “We have had Flynn and with all of the competition we have got it has been difficult.

“Conor had plenty of chances to leave but we wanted him to stay. He is such a good lad and a good trainer. He is a great competitor. He is the captain of the Republic of Ireland’s under-21s.

“We had Josh Cullen who is very similar that here. Went to Anderlecht and Burnley. Playing for the full [Ireland] team. Wouldn’t surprise me if Conor followed the same path. He is doing great and we like him a lot. He had the chance to go in the summer.

“He had a chance to go out in the summer, and he had a couple of good clubs [interested], but we like having him because he’s such a good boy. He’s low maintenance, trains great, great with the rest of the players. He’s a good boy to have around.”

Conor Coventry representing Republic of Ireland. (Photo By Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile via Getty Images) (Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Coventry partnered goalscorer Lanzini in the win over Silkeborg, with the Argentine scoring a penalty and Coventry almost scoring his first goal for the club at senior level in the first half.

In the closing stages, Moyes bought Downes, Rice and Soucek all on from the bench but admitted that he had planned to bring them on earlier, only not doing so because of Coventry’s performance.

“I thought Conor played really well tonight,” Moyes told football.london . “I could easily have kept him on. I was a bit weary of the booking.

“I thought the referee was booking quite easily tonight and I was worried anything could slip. And it just made sense at the end of the game to put on another couple of players to see us through till the end.

“We were bringing them on Tomas and Dec tonight. In fact, if Conor had not played as well as he did, the boys would have been on earlier. Conor played that well, Lanzini played well but those boys were coming on tonight.

“I am keeping them going, keeping them in a rhythm, keeping Declan playing at the standards he has been playing at. They were always coming on tonight.”

READ NEXT:

Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.

Already a member? Sign in here