Callum O'Hare is hoping to show he's still got what it takes with Coventry

They honed their skills playing Gaelic football, they are Solihull lads who grew up at local club Aston Villa and both are natural entertainers who can bring a crowd to its feet.

Jack Grealish and Callum O’Hare competed as youngsters in the GAA leagues in the Birmingham area before joining Villa as teenagers. The players remain in contact and share family connections.

Grealish’s career has rocketed since then to the degree he is now one of Britain’s most recognisable footballers but having turned 25 only in May, O’Hare still has time on his side. Grealish did not establish himself in the Premier League until his mid-twenties, sealing his £100million transfer to Manchester City a month before his 26th birthday.

O’Hare is not yet at that level but had they had him for a full season, Coventry might now be a Premier League club.

O’Hare sat broken-hearted with his colleagues after Luton beat them on penalties in the Championship play-off final at Wembley in May. He had not played since sustaining a serious knee injury against Sheffield United on Boxing Day and this was another blow.

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Yet O’Hare – who might have joined newly-promoted Burnley last January had he not damaged his anterior cruciate ligament – has been recovering well and is targeting a significant role in Coventry’s pre-season preparations.

After Viktor Gyokeres left and with Gustavo Hamer's future in doubt, the Sky Blues desperately need O’Hare to be fit and firing come August.

What comes next is intriguing. Like Hamer, O’Hare has only one year remaining on his contract. As Burnley’s interest showed, there are plenty of admirers out there. Coventry owner Doug King, who took control last January, will be keen to keep his most important players though hanging on to Gyokeres, who scored 21 times last term, was impossible.

There are still those at Villa who believe the club made a mistake in allowing O’Hare to leave on a free transfer three years ago. Though his best position is as an attacking midfielder operating close to a central striker, he has also been used on both flanks.

Had a different regime been in place at Villa back then, O’Hare would surely have been handled more sensibly. Even if he had not broken into the first-team picture, there would have been a structured plan in place, the sort that has benefited Cameron Archer and Aaron Ramsey in recent times.

Yet their loss has been Coventry’s gain. O’Hare has made 102 appearances for Coventry in the Championship, scoring eight goals and producing 19 assists. Until the incident against Sheffield United, he had barely missed a game, featuring 46 times in 2020-21 and 45 times in the following campaign.

Coventry get back on the road again with a pre-season friendly against Exeter on July 18, followed by another against MK Dons a week later. Starting out once more after losing a play-off final is one of the toughest tasks for any club but if O’Hare is available again, the future will seem that little bit brighter.

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