Coventry City boss Frank Lampard has spoken to Coventry Live about how January signing Jahnoah Markelo is adapting to life in England.
Coventry City sit seven points clear at the top of the Championship table despite their recent 2-1 home defeat to Southampton. The Sky Blues have bounced back well from a mid-season dip that briefly saw them drop to second in the standings, putting together a seven-game unbeaten run in the second tier since then.
The January window was a busy one for Coventry City, with four players arriving, including Frank Onyeka and Romain Esse, who have made a big impact. However, one who has not yet is Jahnoah Markelo, the most expensive signing of the year.
Markelo arrived from FC Zurich for £4.3m, and he featured for just 19 minutes for the Sky Blues. Frank Lampard has been easing Markelo into the fold with Coventry City.
He was one of three wingers brought into the club, Esse being another. The final one was Yan Min-Hyeok, who had a loan spell cut-short with Portsmouth to make the switch, who has featured just three times since his arrival.
Frank Lampard on ‘talent’ Jahnoah Markelo
Speaking to Coventry Live, Lampard has been discussing his process behind Markelo’s introduction into the side. Markelo was brought on in the recent win against Preston North End.
When asked about that, Lampard said: “He’s got talent. He’s come in and shown his talent on the training pitch. It’s not easy to come from a different league that’s not at the level of our league, in honesty, and he’s coming with a confidence about him. You can see it.
“Does he need to adapt a little bit to the speed of the game here and that? Yeah, I’m pretty sure he does but he’s been impressive how he’s come in,” Lampard added.
The Sky Blues boss was very complimentary of the January addition. He believes that
“I thought we did really well. He’s trained really well and he needs to adapt to the league. I know that, I think he knows that but he’s a confident lad.
“He came on in a different type of game where you could see his attacking attributes, and we’ve seen that in training. So he’s really good and we’re happy.
Jahnoah Markelo 2025/26 FC Zurich league stats
| Games | Goals | Assists |
| 14 | 2 | 2 |
“It’s early days for him because he’s just come here but he’s settled in, been good on the training ground and needs to learn probably about what it’s like to play football in the Championship in terms of how you have to try and prepare and all those things.”
Markelo faces a tough task to get into the Coventry City side
As things stand, Markelo has at least three players ahead of him in the wide areas. The Surinamese winger is behind Ephron Mason-Clark and Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, as well as Esse.
Mason-Clark and Sakamoto have been key players ever since Lampard’s arrival last year. The pair have been excellent for the Sky Blues this season, with 23 goal contributions between them.
Esse on the other hand has experience at this level from his time with Millwall. He has two goals already since his arrival on loan from Crystal Palace.
Long-term Markelo may be a top addition for the Sky Blues. However, he may need to bide his time before he becomes an established regular, and by that time Coventry City may just be a Premier League outfit.
