Carl Rushworth (£4.5m) has completed a permanent move from Brighton and Hove Albion to Coventry City.
While neither club disclosed the transfer fee, multiple reports suggest Coventry have agreed an initial £22.5m deal. This could rise to around £30m through add-ons.
Brighton have also secured both a sell-on clause and a buy-back option.
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RUSHWORTH’S CAREER TO DATE
Rushworth never made a senior appearance for the Seagulls, instead enjoying a string of largely successful loan spells elsewhere – the one exception being a curtailed temporary stint at Hull City when he was either injured or warming the bench:
| Team | Season | Division | Apps | Clean Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walsall (loan) | 2021/22 | League Two | 43 | 11 |
| Lincoln City (loan) | 2022/23 | League One | 42 | 17 |
| Swansea City (loan) | 2023/24 | Championship | 46 | 10 |
| Hull City (loan) | 2024/25 | Championship | 2 | 1 |
| Coventry City (loan) | 2025/26 | Championship | 46 | 17 |
2025/26 AT COVENTRY
Rushworth established himself as one of the Championship’s standout goalkeepers under Frank Lampard last season.
| Total (rank v other goalkeepers*) | |
|---|---|
| Clean sheets | 17 (1st) |
| Expected goals prevented | +6.7 (1st) |
| Save percentage | 73.1% (4th) |
*minimum: 10 starts
He kept 17 clean sheets as Coventry conceded just 45 league goals, the fewest in the Championship.
Rushworth also swept the club’s end-of-season awards, winning the Players’ Player of the Year, Supporters’ Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year awards.
GUARANTEED STARTER
Rushworth’s return removes any uncertainty over Coventry’s goalkeeping position.
The 25-year-old started all 46 Championship matches last season and looks set to remain Lampard’s first-choice goalkeeper in the Premier League.
HOW DOES RUSHWORTH COMPARE TO OTHER £4.5M GOALKEEPERS?
Rushworth enters a fairly competitive budget goalkeeper market.
We’re expecting seven shot-stoppers available at £4.5m to start for their teams come Gameweek 1.
Here are their teams, ranked by fixture difficulty in the first six Gameweeks:
Coventry rank low down, as you can see, with off-putting trips to Arsenal and Manchester City in the first three Gameweeks.
Gameweeks 8-13 look like a better bet for Lampard’s troops:
However, there are two reasons why managers might consider him from the off…
GAMEWEEK 2 BENCH BOOST
A Bench Boost in Gameweek 2 is one possible play in FPL this season. Coventry are at home to Hull City, arguably their most favourable fixture of 2026/27.
Rushworth could thus be a ‘second’ goalkeeper in FPL squads, boosted in Gameweek 2 and unused on either side of the Hull fixture.
No playing £4.0m goalkeeper exists in FPL at present.
ROTATION WITH VERBRUGGEN?
Rotating ‘keepers is a practise that we don’t see as much of in FPL these days but there is a decent pairing to be found with Rushworth and Brighton’s Bart Verbruggen (£4.5m).
The Gameweek 1 fixture isn’t ideal, but the Seagulls might fancy their chances of keeping out a Villa side very much in transition. Ollie Watkins (£8.0m) will be late back from international duty in pre-season, too.
If neither strategy appeals, names like Antonin Kinsky (£4.5m) and Verbruggen are arguably better set-and-forget ‘keepers than Rushworth in the £4.5m bracket, as they are playing for more established Premier League clubs and enjoy better opening fixtures.
