Coventry City have beaten off competition from two leading
Premiership clubs to sign talented Belgian Cedric Roussel.
The 21-year-old striker was due to remain on-loan at the club until
the end of the season but his impressive form has convinced the Sky
Blues to make his move permanent.
It seemed that Coventry may miss out on the player when both
Sunderland and Tottenham made offers in excess of £2 million to
selling club Ghent.
City chairman Richardson had failed to agree a fee with Ghent in
advance of Roussel’s loan spell and it seemed high profile
performances against Aston Villa, Arsenal and Chelsea would price him
out of the Sky Blues’ market.
However, Roussel’s insistence that he wanted to be a Coventry
City player has meant that the club have been able to capture him for
a fee of around £1 million.
The player is delighted that his future has now been settled and
admits he never wanted to leave Highfield Road.
He said:
"I am very pleased. I can relax now knowing I will be
playing for Coventry City. Knowing my future is settled will give me
confidence.
"The fans have been fantastic and Gordon Strachan has been a
very good influence.
"He is very pleasant and when the trainer is good to you and
lets you play the football you want to play it gives you heart.
"I have signed for Gordon Strachan, the fans and the club.
When I came it was only Coventry who were interested in me, so I
only wanted to play for them.
"I could have gone to Sunderland or Spurs, but they would
have been new clubs with new pressures. I am very settled here and
delighted it is permanent."
Chairman Bryan Richardson tied the deal up with Ghent’s president
last night and echoed Roussel’s delight at the news.
He said:
"Everything has been agreed with Ghent’s president who
flew over last night.
"The transfer fee rises to a maximum of £1.2 million. Ghent
had two offers of over £2 million but Cedric made it very clear he
only wanted to play for Coventry City and that made the
difference."
