Southampton and Burnley tracking Coventry City player ahead of potential summer transfer

Coventry City defender Michael Rose is attracting Premier League interest ahead of a potential summer transfer move away from the Sky Blues.

Per the Sunday Mirror – via the Daily Echo – the 26-year-old is wanted by both Southampton and Burnley after his performances under Mark Robins this season.

The Scottish centre-back’s contract expires in the summer of 2023 and both the Saints and the Clarets believe that they can snag Rose on a cut-price deal before the 2022-23 season starts.

Rose has featured 17 times in the Championship this season for Coventry, scoring his first goal of the campaign in Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Reading and impressed against the aforementioned Saints in the FA Cup last week.

Having joined Coventry from Ayr United in 2019, Rose has played 78 times in all competitions but hasn’t always been a regular starter during the current season and has been on the bench for nine Championship matches without coming onto the pitch.

Recent showings though have seen top flight clubs take notice though, with Rose averaging 5.07 defensive duels, 5.42 interceptions and 3.66 clearances per game (stats via Wyscout).

The Verdict

Despite Rose being in decent recent form, it seems quite hard to believe that Premier League clubs will be taking an interest in him.

That’s not a slight on the defender at all, but it’s not like Rose has been a regular feature for Coventry this season as he’s been in and out of the team.

He also only played 17 times in the league last season as well, so you’d imagine that there will be several other defenders on Burnley and Southampton’s transfer list ahead of Rose.

It would be a real surprise if a Premier League deal for the Scot happened – perhaps if Burnley are relegated though then it may