Coventry City will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Sunderland and Leeds United and secure their Premier League survival next season.

The Sky Blues have not participated at the top level of English football since 2001, barely losing out on promotion in two of the previous three seasons.

Leeds and Sunderland both survived their return to the division this season with numerous games to spare, but Burnley has dropped back down under Scott Parker.

It is going to be a hectic summer at the CBS Arena, as owner Doug King will need to spend on the first-team roster to help them survive.

The transfer market could be critical in guaranteeing Lampard’s team can compete in the Premier League in the short and long term.

Chris Waddle encourages Coventry to invest this summer.

Chris Waddle claims that Coventry will need to pay up to £300 million in the summer transfer window to replicate Sunderland’s survival feat.

He feels that the Sky Blues must be willing to spend money to stay up this year; otherwise, their best chance of long-term stability in the top flight is to risk relegation and compete for promotion again with the support of parachute payments.

“I think Frank Lampard’s done a great job,” Waddle told the Coventry Observer.

“Of course, he can coach his players and talk to them about what it takes to succeed in the Premier League, but he can’t kick the ball for them.

“Sunderland performed well because they spent £300 million.

“If Coventry wants to stay up, they can survive, but if they can’t spend £300 million themselves, they will most likely be relegated.”

“But you can take the money and run, go back down, take your parachute payments, and go back up stronger.”

Waddle believes seven or eight players are required for Coventry to have a chance of staying up right now rather than risk becoming a yo-yo club.

“Many teams have done that all these years, and that’s buying the right players to do it right, by the way,” he said.

“Lampard has a good football team in Coventry, but the Premier League is different, and Frank will understand that.

“Unless he’s allowed to spend and bring in seven or eight players then I think he’d be doing a great job to take the money and go back down to come back up again.”

Coventry finished first in the Championship, 11 points ahead of second-place Ipswich Town, and won the title with several games to spare.

Lampard’s side advanced to the play-offs after finishing fifth in the standings a year ago, but were defeated by the Black Cats in the semi-finals.

The Sky Blues will now look to duplicate Régis Le Bris’ side’s success next season, with the Wearside club safe from relegation and still in contention for European qualification heading into the last weekend of the season.

Meanwhile, Ipswich will join Coventry in the top flight, and they have already begun the process of becoming a parachute payout club after being promoted to the top flight in 2024 and then relegated in 2025.

Kieran McKenna’s squad has earned its spot back in the division at the first attempt, demonstrating to King an alternative path to the Premier League.

Sunderland spent substantially in the summer, assisted by the sale of Jobe Bellingham to Borussia Dortmund for a record £40 million. Coventry City are unlikely to invest as much.

Coventry are unlikely to make such a transaction this summer, limiting the club’s investment potential.

The prudent strategy will be to cut costs and accept relegation with the goal of returning to the top tier a year later, but this will be difficult for supporters to accept because it will entail losing a large number of games.

It would be extremely dangerous to spend heavily in the upcoming market because it would not ensure survival, and the penalty of relegation may be far more severe, thus a £300 million investment is highly unlikely.