Okay, so it’s not quite as glamourous as the move to the Premiership we were all keeping out fingers crossed for, but Michael Mifsud’s two-and-a-half year deal with Coventry is fantastic for the lad and for Maltese football.

Michael completed his move from Lillestrom this week and will now form part of Mickey Adams’ squad at the Ricoh Arena where he is destined, in my opinion, to become the first Maltese footballer to really make his mark in England.

Coventry are currently just below mid-table in the Championship but still with a shout of making the play-offs if they can put a good run together. Their biggest single problem this season has been scoring goals – they have only managed 25 in 27 games.

And that’s where Michael comes in.

He may be unproven in England but at his previous clubs and at international level Michael has shown he is a natural striker whose eye for goal is only matched by his unquestionable skill.

As it stands I don’t think he will go straight into the starting 11. It might take him a few weeks to settle in and find his feet. But, before long I am convinced that Michael will be banging them in and helping Coventry climb the table.

For us Maltese it will be fascinating to watch how he adapts to life in the Championship. Maybe he will fire in the goals that get his side promoted to the Premiership, thereby achieving the ultimate objective anyway.

Alternatively, if he proves himself at Championship level maybe a Premiership team will try to take him off Coventry’s hands.

Either way, one thing is for absolute certain and that’s that there will be a lot, lot more Coventry fans in Malta this week than there were last week and sales of light blue shirts will soar if Michael starts doing well.

It’s just a shame Michael didn’t choose to join the Blades. It would have been nice to not be the only Sheffield United supporter on the island for a change…

The wait continues

And so the wait continues.

Nearly two weeks into the transfer window now and the big deals just aren’t happening. The small-to-medium-sized transfers are ticking over quiet nicely, but the big ones are just not going down.

The question is, will they? With Jose Mourinho saying the Chelsea board are refusing to sanction moves for the players he wants this month, that is effectively the major player taken out of January’s market.

Of course the rest of the big boys, both in England and across Europe, still have cash of their own to invest but they seem reluctant, if not to spend it, then to spend it too quickly.

It seems like it is a game of circling at the moment for the various tiers of the football world.

The really big boys are circling each other like cautious Sumo wrestlers, each waiting for the other to make the first move and seeing where that leads them.

The medium sized boys are circling clubs from lower divisions like sharks, ready to pick off their best players with cash offers but not until the very last minute to keep the price down.

Finally, the small boys are circling each other like horses on a merry-go-round trying to blend in with the crowd in the hope that none of the medium or large clubs realise they have players they want.

Having said all that, at some point in the next two-and-a-half weeks or so, the circling will stop, of that you can be assured. And when it does I get the impression it will turn into a proper feeding frenzy for everyone.

Everyone, that is, apart from Chelsea. I mean, if that isn’t a sign of serious unrest, when a team of its financial clout fails to back its manager, I don’t know what is.

They may deny it but all is not well in the hallowed halls of Stamford Bridge. I said it earlier this week but I think it is now really evident that Jose and his bosses are not seeing eye to eye.

If this transfer window comes and goes and Chelsea haven’t spent a penny, I think it would be fair to say that Jose will be on his bike come May.

Watch this space.

Contact James on: [email protected]