- Romain Esse wins Championship title with Coventry City
- Loan has been a good experience for Esse
- A decision to make this Summer
Romain Esse celebrated winning the EFL Championship title with Coventry City last night, after their 5-1 demolition of Portsmouth. The Sky Blues have walked the Championship this season, scoring ninety goals and amassing a ten point gap ahead of the chasing pack.
Under Frank Lampard’s management, Coventry have secured their place in the Premier League for the 2026/27 campaign, the club’s first in over a quarter of a century. Crystal Palace winger Romain Esse joined the Sky Blues on loan in January, and has taken to life at Coventry very well.
Life on loan
Esse scored his first Coventry goal against his former club Millwall, who he left to join Palace for an initial fee of £12 million. A handful of bright performances in the Conference League were about as much gametime as he was afforded for Palace, so a loan made sense for all parties.
Fifteen appearances for Coventry later, and Esse is celebrating a league title and a historic promotion to the top flight. Two goals and one assists aren’t particularly incredible numbers, but he has certainly played a part in his side’s superb campaign.
It also marks yet another successful loan for a Palace youngster this campaign. In recent seasons, poor decisions have seen the younger players at the club joining sides which simply did not suit them or their development.
This campaign though, Esse, Danny Imray and David Ozoh have all had sublime loan spells at different clubs, and are all stepping closer to a chance at breaking into the first team squad next season.
Esse comes across as a very likeable character. He clearly understands what it means to play for a club, and completely invests himself in the culture, affiliating himself with the fanbase.
Potential for Esse to sign another season at Coventry
In fact, the Coventry fans seem keen to keep a hold of the winger next season, with many calling for him to stay put next season as they face the ever-present and overwhelming task of fighting for survival.
This in many ways, would not be a bad suggestion. At only 20-years-old, Esse is still an incredibly raw talent, and one who most certainly needs game time to develop into a player who is good enough to start games for Palace.
A return on loan for next season makes an awful lot of sense, and with Evan Guessand likely to join the Palace on a permanent deal, there is little need for Esse to return to South London in order to have an immediate impact.
That being said, with a new manager coming in over the Summer, Esse may well be thinking that he can come back to SE25 and impress, with the long-term goal of starting for Palace consistently the priority.
