Coventry City are being linked with a move summer move for Bristol City’s Nathan Baker – should Blackburn Rovers also join the race?
Baker, 30, is set to leave Bristol City when his contract at Ashton Gate expires at the end of this month.
The English centre-half was on the books at Aston Villa for the majority of his career, joining Bristol City on a permanent basis ahead of the 2017/18 season.
Since then, Baker has racked up 87 Championship appearances for the Robins but spent the vast majority of the 2020/21 season on the sidelines, making just three appearances – he started and finished all three of Bristol City’s final games of the season.
With him set to leave Bristol City this month, CoventryLive reported last month that the Sky Blues had outed Baker as a possible summer recruit in their bid for a centre-back.
Also likely to be in need of one are Blackburn Rovers.
Tony Mowbray will say goodbye to the loan likes of Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Jarrad Branthwaite and so he will likely need cover in the central of defence going into the new 2021/22 season, and Baker could be a viable answer to a lot of their defensive problems last time round.
Despite finishing strongly, Rovers endured a torrid second half of the season and ended the campaign having conceded 54 goals in their 46 league outings.
Top-six has long been the aim for Mowbray at Rovers and whether or nor that dream is slowly slipping away remains to be debated, but one thing is for certain and that is that Blackburn need more Championship experience and quality in their ranks.
Loan deals are great but, particularly at times with Branthwaite, inexperience cost the side. Baker would be a shrewd signing should he continue to prove he’s fit after his end of season run of games, but Rovers would have to move fast to fend off competition from Coventry.
