Update emerges on Ben Sheaf's Coventry City future amid previous Leeds United transfer talk | OneFootball

Coventry City hope that the midfielder will return from injury this weekend

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard is not in a “huge rush” to secure Ben Sheaf to a new contract despite previous reported interest from Championship rivals Leeds United.

Arsenal academy graduate product Sheaf will enter the last year of his deal at the Coventry Building Society Arena this summer, but the Sky Blues are not actively in conversations with the midfielder over a new deal, according to Lampard.

Championship league leaders Leeds were linked to making a potential move worth £8 million in the winter transfer window, although no transfer materialised.

No "huge rush" for contract despite Ben Sheaf approaching final 12 months of Coventry City deal

Sheaf has established himself as a key figure for Coventry since arriving at the club in the summer of 2020, spending a season on loan before leaving Arsenal for an undisclosed fee and signing a three-year deal at the CBS Arena.

Arriving in Coventry’s first season back in the second tier, Sheaf has helped the Sky Blues re-establish themselves as a consistent Championship outfit, with the midfielder going on to make a century-and-a-half of league appearances for City.

Sheaf has served as club captain for the Sky Blues since the start of the campaign, named skipper after the departure of Liam Kelly.

When Sheaf last had 18 months or so remaining on his deal, he was offered a three-year extension by Coventry City.

Having last signed a deal with the Sky Blues in March 2023, fans would expect another offer to be made to the 27-year-old in the coming weeks, but Lampard suggested that conversations over a new contract would have to wait.

He told CoventryLive: “Everyone here at the club wants Ben to stay. As far as I’m concerned, I do.

“I had respect for Ben when I came in. I know there was interest in him in the summer and a lot of talk about him in the summer and that’s because of the level of player that Ben is. So I’m really happy with him.

“I think probably that the injury that’s just come now, unfortunately, for the last six weeks or so makes everything about getting him back on the training pitch.

“But I want him to stay. Obviously, those conversations will always be from the owner (Doug King) and Dean (Austin, head of recruitment) and myself, and obviously Ben and his opinions on it.

“I want him to stay at the club but there doesn’t feel like a huge rush.”

Frank Lampard currently unaware of Ben Sheaf’s thoughts on a new deal

Currently ruled out with injury, Sheaf could potentially return to action this weekend when Coventry face Preston North End.

Coventry have been without the holding midfielder for the previous nine games, with Sheaf coming off against Norwich City at the start of January.

Lampard believes the hectic scheduling of the Championship lowered the priority of a new deal for Sheaf, although he admitted he was in the dark in regards to the player’s feelings about it.

The former Chelsea boss continued: “Ben might say something different, I don’t know because I don’t know where he’s at exactly with it, but it doesn’t feel like a huge rush because we’re right in the middle of games.

“But I think all conversations are positive, for sure.”