Former Lincoln City goalkeeper Carl Rushworth is reportedly closing in on a club-record £22.5 million transfer to Premier League newcomers Coventry City.
The 25-year-old is expected to complete his permanent move from Brighton and Hove Albion later this week, according to a report published by Football Lowdown.
Rushworth spent last season on loan with the Sky Blues, playing every minute of their Championship campaign as Frank Lampard’s side won the title and returned to the Premier League after an absence of 25 years.
He kept 17 clean sheets across his 46 league appearances, conceding 45 goals as Coventry finished above Ipswich Town and Hull City to secure promotion as champions. They scored 97 times at the opposite end of the pitch, but Rushworth’s consistency provided the foundation for their success.
Coventry have been attempting to bring him back throughout the summer, reportedly seeing three bids rejected before finally reaching an agreement with Brighton. The £22.5 million fee could eventually rise towards £30 million through add-ons, while Brighton are also thought to have secured a sell-on clause and an option to buy the goalkeeper back.
The initial payment alone would make Rushworth Coventry’s record signing, surpassing the £17 million they recently paid Eintracht Frankfurt for defender Aurèle Amenda.
For Lincoln City supporters, the numbers underline just how far Rushworth has progressed since his season at Sincil Bank.
He joined the Imps on loan from Brighton in July 2022 and immediately established himself as Mark Kennedy’s first-choice goalkeeper. Rushworth made 46 appearances in all competitions during the 2022/23 campaign, keeping 20 clean sheets and conceding just 47 goals.
That season included a remarkable unbeaten home record in League One until Burton Albion won at Sincil Bank in April. Rushworth’s performances behind a defence containing Paudie O’Connor, Adam Jackson and Regan Poole were central to Lincoln becoming one of the most difficult sides in the division to break down.
His form earned him recognition at international level, and he was part of the England Under-21 squad that won the European Championship in the summer of 2023. He subsequently spent a season as Swansea City’s first-choice goalkeeper before a more frustrating campaign with Hull City, where he made only a handful of appearances.
The move to Coventry revived his momentum. Lampard placed his faith in Rushworth as the club’s number one, and that decision was repaid across a title-winning season in which he developed into one of the Championship’s outstanding goalkeepers.
Rushworth has still not made a senior appearance for Brighton, despite joining the south-coast club as a teenager. His development has instead come through loans with Worthing, Walsall, the Imps, Swansea, Hull and Coventry, gradually taking him from non-league football to the Premier League.
A permanent move now appears to be close, subject to the remaining formalities and a medical. It would give Rushworth the opportunity to begin the Premier League season as Coventry’s first-choice goalkeeper, while completing another significant step in the career of one of the best loan players we have seen at Sincil Bank in recent years.
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