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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Malik Ouzia

West Ham: Charlton win race to sign Conor Coventry after January transfer battle

Charlton have won the race to sign West Ham midfielder Conor Coventry as they look to revive their ailing season.

The Addicks have beaten off competition from several League One rivals, including Sheffield Wednesday, to sign the Hammers academy graduate for an undisclosed fee.

Coventry made his West Ham debut more than five years ago but has struggled to make a significant breakthrough, spending much of the time since out on a series of loans and playing just ten times for the first team.

The 23-year-old enjoyed a promising spell in the Championship with Rotherham during the second half of last season but has not featured under David Moyes since returning to east London and was due to be out of contract this summer.

Charlton were on Friday morning awaiting clearance for the former Republic of Ireland youth international to face third-placed Peterborough at The Valley on Saturday, where Michael Appleton’s side will be looking to end a bleak run of nine games without a win across all competitions since the start of December.

Conor Coventry has been unable to make a mark on West Ham's first team (Getty Images)

Elsewhere, highly-rated West Ham youngster Gideon Kodua is expected to join League One outfit Wycombe on loan until the end of the season.

Kodua captained the Hammers’ U18s to FA Youth Cup glory last season, scoring a sensational goal in the 5-1 thrashing of Arsenal in the final.

The 19-year-old is part of a crop of young players considered the club’s most exciting in two decades, one that has made a smooth transition to U21 football this term and currently sit second in the Premier League 2.

However, the Irons are keen for a number of those players to go out on loan this month in search of senior football. Kodua scored against Wycombe in a 2-1 EFL Trophy defeat on Tuesday night and will now head to Adams Park, where fellow Hammer Freddie Potts is already excelling on loan.

Moyes’s first team, meanwhile, were due back at Rush Green today following a four-day break. Moyes had hoped to give his players a full week off following Sunday’s FA Cup third round meeting with Bristol City, but a draw in that game means those plans have been scuppered by next week’s replay at Ashton Gate.

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