FORMER fan’s favourite Callum Wilson has revealed how he would love to return to his boyhood club and wear the famous Sky Blues shirt again.
The 23-year-old left the Sky Blues for Bournemouth in July last year after a storming 2013/14 campaign which saw him score 22 goals in 41 appearances for Steven Pressley’s side.
Since then his career has gone from strength to strength down on the south coast after guiding the Cherries to the Premier League by scoring 20 league goals in the Championship for Eddie Howe’s side.
Wilson’s scoring spree continued in the top flight and up until a recent knee injury cut his campaign short, the former President Kennedy School pupil was on the verge of a call-up up to Roy Hodgson’s England squad.
But despite his sudden and deserved rise to fame, Wilson still keeps an eye out for Sky Blues results and wants to see his former club back playing in the second tier next season.
“They’re doing great at the moment and I would love to see them in the Championship,” Wilson told the Observer.
“I wouldn’t ever want Bournemouth to drop out of the Premier League but if they did and Coventry got promoted then what a game that would be!
“It would be a bit surreal playing back at the Ricoh against Coventry – it would be crazy.
“I don’t really see a lot of Coventry people and I’ve not really been back that much so you don’t really know what people make of you when you’ve left.
“It was tough because I would have always liked to have played for Coventry in the higher divisions. When the club were in the Championship it would have been great to have been playing then.
“But when you’re playing in League One, ultimately you want to keep progressing and the only way for me to that was to leave unfortunately.
“Hopefully one day I can be putting on a Coventry shirt again. I’d love to see Coventry in the top flight and one day I’d like to play for them again.”
Despite coming close to dropping down into the fourth tier of English football, manager Tony Mowbray has managed to turn the club’s fortunes around this season and they currently occupy top spot in League One.
Wilson is also pleased to see someone of Mowbray’s experience and stature in charge at the Ricoh and he firmly believes he is the right man to take the club forward.
“When I was younger watching Match of the Day Tony Mowbray was the manager of West Brom and when he got appointed as Coventry manager I thought ‘wow, Coventry have got a bit of ambition at the moment’.
“It looks as though it’s paying off at the moment and hopefully it continues.
“I’d love to see Coventry playing in the higher divisions because it’s a club that doesn’t deserve to be in League One, but we find ourselves there.”
Despite becoming one of the best young English strikers in the country, Wilson remains in close contact with many former City academy players, including Jordan Clarke and Cyrus Christie, both of whom are set to be best men at his wedding next year.
And he also expressed his excitement following the return of Gael Bigirimana, who re-joined the Sky Blues on a short term loan deal from Newcastle until the end of the season.
He added: “Gael is a great player and the way Coventry are going now he’s only going to add quality to the team.
“He’ll be a great signing for the club – he’s a great footballer.
“I talk to Cyrus Christie and Jordan Clarke quite a lot. I’m quite close to them having grown up with them.
“It’s nice to see Cyrus doing well. I watched the Ireland against Bosnia game and he was unfortunate not to be playing.
“He’s playing just behind another great player (Seamus Coleman) so it’s hard for him to get into the team, but I’m sure he’ll take his chance when it comes along.”
Read part two of Wilson’s interview with the Observer tomorrow where he looks back on THAT breakthrough season with the Sky Blues, his decision to move down south to Bournemouth and how difficult it was for him to move away from Coventry.