Coventry City manager Frank Lampard extolled Super Eagles midfielder Frank Onyeka’s “outstanding” performance on his debut Monday, as the Sky Blues reclaimed the Championship summit with a 3-1 victory over Middlesbrough at the CBS Arena.
Onyeka, deployed alongside Matt Grimes in midfield, impressed with his energy and ball-winning prowess, earning lavish praise from the head coach.
“He was outstanding – the energy, the ball winning,” Lampard said. “He did great. He was so visible on the eye, you know, his pressing, his break up and quality on the ball. He reads stuff and gets on the move so quickly. He can eat up ground and he can play as well. When you bring in a player of that level I think it gives everybody a lift. I expected that from him. He’s played in the Premier League and for his national team but it’s not easy coming into a game at that level in this league. It’s tough and it just looked like it was there.”
Lampard further highlighted Onyeka’s unique profile: “I said before he’s a different profile for us and he completely showed it… He’s looked like that a bit in training. I didn’t have too many whys about him because I know the player that I felt that we brought to the club. He’s played in the Premier League, he’s played for his international team in AFCON recently and I’m really, really happy with him.”
The win propelled Coventry back to the top of the English second tier, underscoring Onyeka’s immediate impact following his move from a Premier League club. Club officials offered no further comment on his transfer details.
