Coventry City transfer news from CoventryLive as Sky Blues bid for goalkeeper turned down by Premier League Brighton
Coventry City have been dealt a transfer blow amid reports that Brighton & Hove Albion have rejected an offer for goalkeeper Carl Rushworth.
An initial bid from the Sky Blues does not meet Brighton’s valuation of the 24-year-old, claims The Athletic’s Brighton correspondent and long-standing Albion reporter Andy Naylor.
The Premier League club are widely reported to value Rushworth at around the £20m mark. City attempted to buy the player last summer with a formal bid of between £5m-£6m and took him on a season-long loan instead when that was turned down.
Coventry are keen to re-sign Rushworth on a permanent basis after an impressive 2025-26 campaign for Frank Lampard’s side. He played in all 46 of the club’s second tier fixtures, keeping 17 clean sheets and conceding 45 goals, as Coventry finished 11 points clear at the top of the table to clinch a place in the Premier League next season.
It remains to be seen if City will go back with an improved offer for Rushworth who has developed at Brighton via a succession of loans to Walsall in League Two (2021-22), Lincoln City in League One (2022-23), then in the Championship at Swansea City (2023-24), Hull City (2024-25) and most recently Coventry.
The goalkeeper has a year left on his contract, with Brighton holding an option for a further year. But, The Athletic report, he has made it clear he will sign another deal and will only stay if the current status quo with Bart Verbruggen as No 1 and Jason Steele as No 2 changes.
Rushworth’s priority is to play games in the Premier League – something he’s assured of if he returns to the CBS Arena.
Verbruggen, 23, is at the World Cup as established first choice for the Netherlands, while 35-year-old Steele is also at the tournament as England’s training goalkeeper.
