The Sky Blues welcomed the return of defender, Sam McCallum, who agreed a season-long-loan from Norwich City.
McCallum said his goodbyes following the end of the 2019/20 season, as he linked-up with the recently relegated Canaries ahead of the new campaign.
However, those goodbyes were short-lived, as the 20-year-old made his return to Mark Robins side, expressing his delight at the chance to work with City once more.
“I’m buzzing to be back.” McCallum said.
“When I found out, I couldn’t wait to get the deal over the line, it was a no brainer for me as soon as I heard of the interest.
“It’s a lovely club with great supporters and knowing the system being played here helps and settling down won’t be too much of a problem compared to if I had gone somewhere else on loan.
“I can’t wait to wear Sky Blue again and it will probably feel a bit strange because when I said my goodbyes before, I didn’t expect this to happen, but now I’m back and like I said, I’m buzzing to play my part.”
McCallum made 43 appearances, scoring three goals in his first spell with the club where he made his professional and football league debut.
Having been part of the side who helped the Sky Blues secure the League One title during his first stint at the club, Sam is excited to be part of the same team in the Championship for the 2020/21 campaign.
“Last season the main goal was to get promoted into the Championship and we did that. Obviously, it wasn’t the way we wanted to, but we got what we deserved at the end of the day.
“I think coming into the Championship this season, it just feels nice and it feels nice to be back at the place where I was given my chance and hopefully we can retain our place in the league and maybe push on and compete towards the top.”
The defender returns to the Sky Blues to continue a battle for a place in the starting eleven, in particular on the left-hand-side of the pitch.
McCallum enjoyed the ‘healthy competition’ with Brandon Mason and Ryan Giles for a spot in the team last season and highlights that as a big part of his development.
“It’s a healthy competition between us three and there’s no bad blood there.
“Off the pitch we’re good mates and then on the pitch we have that competition and we’re pushing each other to improve and develop our games and we’re all relatively young still.
“I learnt a lot since I’ve been gone and I’ve gained a lot of tips on and off the pitch and I’ve been speaking with a few of the players at Norwich they’ve helped me learn things on the pitch that I didn’t know before.”
Sam will be hoping to make his second debut for the Sky Blues as soon as possible and he could get that chance this weekend when City make the trip to Oakwell to face Barnsley in their third Championship fixture of the season.