Coventry City

Coventry City have agreed a club record deal worth an initial £22.5m deal to sign English goalkeeper Carl Rushworth, 25, from Brighton. (Telegraph - subscription required), external

Rangers are interested in Coventry City winger Jahnoah Markelo, with Brighton's Amario Cozier-Duberry still a player of interest. (Rangers Review - subscription required), external

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Video assistant referees should only be used to change "blatantly incorrect" decisions and clear missed incidents, say European refereeing officials.

Chief refereeing officers from all 55 European national football associations met last week with Uefa refereeing officials and a representative from the International Football Association Board (Ifab) to address recent changes to the game's laws.

Attendees said "lengthy, microscoping reviews" indicate VAR has gone beyond its original scope.

When VAR was added to the laws of the game in 2018 by football's rulemakers Ifab, its "philosophy" was "minimum interference - maximum benefit", with the intention of reducing "unfairness caused by clear and obvious errors or serious missed incidents" relating to goals, penalties, direct red cards and mistaken identity.

Uefa said that at its recent meeting that refereeing bosses agreed a return to those original aims is needed.

"It was reiterated that, in accordance with protocol, VAR must only intervene in situations of 'clear and obvious' error, ie. when a referee decision is blatantly incorrect or when the referee has missed a clear incident," Uefa said in a statement.

"VAR is not meant to re-referee the game, it is an essential support to the referees, who must remain at the centre of all decision-making.

"Lengthy, microscoping reviews are often a symptom revealing that the decision on the field was not clearly and obviously incorrect, and should therefore be limited."

The Athletic's football finance writer Chris Weatherspoon believes "there is a gap to be bridged" in terms of how much money Coventry City can spend in preparation for their long-awaited Premier League return.

Speaking to BBC CWR, Weatherspoon explained his understanding of the club's financial situation: "Every club that comes up to the Premier League is different.

"Obviously spending money isn't a guarantee of success, it certainly does help though because the more you have to spend, the greater the safety net you have if you don't spend that particularly well.

"In terms of how much Coventry can spend, one of the interesting things is that the club are coming up in a year where they are going to be assessed on a squad cost ratio basis, so they are allowed to spend a certain proportion of their revenue on players, agent fees, transfer fees and the costs of a manager.

"Previously, clubs have come up and been held to rules about how much the overall club could lose across three seasons and most clubs in the Championship lose quite a lot of money, especially if they have been there for a while.

"However, nobody is going to be looking at those overall losses now. That means Coventry could spend an absolute fortune next season and still stay within the 85% of revenue they are allowed to spend.

"Wolves finished bottom of the Premier League last season and earned around £177m in TV money alone. Coventry's matchday income was £12m and their commercial income was around £9m the season before last.

"So if we add on those fairly modest improvement, you're looking at a baseline revenue of about £150m.

"When looking at squad cost, Coventry's squad cost £56m to compile at the end of 2024-25, while the lowest in the Premier League was Ipswich Town's squad at £136m - so there is a gap there to be bridged.

"It's hard to say what needs to be spent by a club because you could spend £100m badly, but there are four promoted clubs that have spent over £110m in recent years and all stayed up."

Listen to the full conversation above or listen on BBC Sounds

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On BBC CWR's latest episode of The Sky Blues Fancast, Coventry City fans Alex and Ged discussed whether they were nervous about succeeding in signing Carl Rushworth from Brighton.

Just over a year ago, the Sky Blues announced the signing of Rushworth from Brighton on a season-long loan.

Ged told BBC CWR: "It has become a saga now. It has gone on for too long.

"We have been talking about it since the end of last season. It seemed clear to us that Rushworth wanted to stay."

Brighton have already rejected a £25m bid for the 25-year-old, and the Seagulls have reportedly tagged Rushworth with a £40m fee.

Alex said: "Rushworth isn't going to one of the big six sides, but he is still a player that Brighton know they can make a lot of money on. The reported fee £40m does seem a lot. That would make him one of the most expensive goalkeepers ever."

If Coventry were to seal the deal with a £40m bid, Rushworth would be ranked as the fourth most expensive goalkeeper in Premier League history, with only Kepa Arrizabalaga, Alisson Becker and Andre Onana moving to a Premier League club for more money.

Ged added: "Brighton are obviously looking for the most amount of money they can get. One thing that is maybe concerning is that I don't know what plan B is.

"If we do sign Rushworth, he doesn't need to do much to settle into the club. That will be a bonus."

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and subscribe to the dedicated Coventry City page to get all Sky Blues audio content.

Nizaar Kinsella
Football reporter

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Filip Jorgensen is talking to Strasbourg about a potential move but also has interest from Coventry City.

A move for the goalkeeper to Strasbourg would be a loan deal to the Chelsea-adjacent club under the same BlueCo ownership.

The Dane, who is not in the squad for Tuesday's friendly, is discussing his potential salary package after his return to London from Sydney.

West Ham are interested in a move for Coventry City's USA international striker Haji Wright. (Football Insider, external), external

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English football is set to implement a trial to try to eradicate the goalkeeper tactical timeout this season, BBC Sport can reveal.

The Football Association, Premier League, English Football League, National League and Women's Super League have agreed on the measure, pending permission from the International Football Association Board (Ifab).

Earlier this year, Ifab decided against changing the law and invited leagues to volunteer for trials.

Pro Ref, led by chief refereeing officer Howard Webb, has been in discussions with the leagues to determine how to tackle the issue. It settled on a team having to remove an outfield player from the field.

If a referee signals that the physio can come on to treat a goalkeeper, the coach will have 10 seconds to nominate another player to leave the pitch for one minute, telling the fourth official of their choice.

If no player has been selected within 10 seconds, the captain must leave the field.

Read more on the trial

The Premier League return draws closer and transfer needs become all the more pressing.

Join the BBC CWR team and some die hard Coventry City fans on the latest edition of The Sky Blues Fancast live.

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and subscribe to the dedicated Coventry City page to get all Sky Blues audio content.

Image source, Coventry City FC

Coventry City have revealed their away kit for the 2026-27 season.

"The away kit is a jersey in off-white, navy and hot coral, colour of our principal sponsor Monzo," a club statement reads. "The hot coral side panels run through the jersey and shorts to create the full look."

The goalkeeper kit, pictured below, features a pattern of horizontal stripes and "checkerboard", which the Sky Blues say is "a key styling detail synonymous with Coventry".

Image source, Coventry City FC

Image source, Getty Images

Former Coventry City goalkeeper Andy Marshall says the Sky Blues summer target Carl Rushworth is worth the £30m price tag that Brighton are asking for.

The 25-year-old spent last season on loan at Coventry as Frank Lampard's side won the Championship.

Rushworth impressed during his stint and was named in the Championship team of the season, as well as sweeping up three club awards, including player of the season.

The Sky Blues now want the shot-stopper to sign permanently, but have had a £25m bid rejected by Brighton.

Speaking to BBC CWR, Marshall said: "He picked up every award at the club last year. You totally understand why people want to see him at the club, but these things play out because Brighton will want the best deal for him.

"Unfortunately, Brighton hold all the cards on this at the moment."

On whether Rushworth is worth the £30m fee, Marshall added: "Is any player worth, £100m, £120m, £170m, or whatever they're paying? I don't know. But if you look at the current market, yes, you probably would argue that he is worth it.

"Coventry will be doing their job. You can't go into a Premier League season with just two goalkeepers and there will be other options they are looking at.

"They obviously have got their preferred option."

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and subscribe to the dedicated Coventry City page to get all Sky Blues audio content.

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Coventry City striker Norman Bassette has joined Belgian Pro League side KVC Westerlo on a season-long loan deal.

The 21-year-old, who signed for the Sky Blues in August 2024, had spells at Reaims and Kaiserslautern last season.

The deal with KVC Westerlo includes an option to buy.

Now the dust has settled on the 2026 World Cup, you can officially review your Predictor results for the tournament.

If you played more than four rounds, BBC Sport has done a deep dive into your predictions, tournament performance and compared you to other players.

Don't worry, though, Predictor isn't stopping at international tournaments! Pre-season has kicked off and there are plenty of friendlies and European qualifiers to keep us occupied before the new season gets under way.

So how do you fancy your chances of correctly predicting the scores for our six selected matches every week?

BBC Sport has launched a new weekly Predictor game to cover the 2026-27 season, allowing users to pick what they think will be the result from six fixtures from across the leagues.

There will usually be a Friday deadline and the game will also feature streaks, so make sure to build it into your weekly football habits.

Lock in your first round of predictions before Friday, 24 July here

If you're wondering how to play, here are a few easy steps:

• Click on the link above to take you to the selections page.

• For every match, you either choose a winning team or select a draw - once your prediction has been submitted you won't be able to change it, so be sure to pick carefully.

• Then wait for the results to roll in to see how you have done.

• Share your results with your friends and family.

• Every consecutive round you play adds one to your streak, but if you miss a round then your streak will reset to zero.

Mohamed Moallim
BBC Sport Journalist

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The Premier League's financial landscape has changed dramatically over the past decade. Since 2016 total summer transfer spending has risen from £1.16bn to a record £3.19bn in 2025 – an increase of almost 175%.

On the surface, that suggests transfer figures are continuing to accelerate. Headline fees, though, tell only part of the story.

Research by Kieran Maguire and colleagues at the University of Liverpool suggests some of the Premier League's earlier record signings represented even greater investments when measured against clubs' buying power at the time.

Using Premier League broadcasting revenues as an index, Alan Shearer's £15m move from Blackburn Rovers to Newcastle United in 1996 remains the league's biggest transfer relative to clubs' spending power. Rio Ferdinand's £29.1m move to Manchester United in 2002 and Juan Sebastian Veron's £28.1m arrival at Old Trafford in 2001 also rank above any of this summer's blockbuster deals.

The same model suggests Trevor Francis' £1m move from Birmingham City to Forest in 1979 – English football's first £1m transfer – would equate to about £173m in today's market.

That does not mean the fees paid for Morgan Rogers, Elliot Anderson and Sandro Tonali were modest. Rather, it reflects how dramatically Premier League revenues have grown, allowing clubs to spend sums that would once have been unimaginable.

When Jack Grealish became Britain's first £100m footballer when joining City from Villa in 2021, the transfer marked another turning point in the evolution of the market.

Only five years later, nine-figure deals are no longer viewed as extraordinary. They have become a familiar feature of Premier League transfer windows.

The next milestone may not be far away.

While no Premier League club has yet paid £200m for a player, football's financial ceiling continues to rise and the first transfer of that magnitude no longer feels beyond the realms of possibility.

• Read more on transfer fee evolution

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We asked you to give us one player you would like to move on this summer and one realistic target you want Coventry to bring in before the transfer window shuts.

Here are some of your comments:

Denis: Luke Woolfenden to move on. Daizen Maeda to be signed.

Ryan: I think we need to (finally) sell Norman Bassette. It just hasn't worked out for him at the club. I'd love to see us sign Carl Rushworth, which seems likely at the moment!

Dave: Experienced head at the back needed to mentor and develop Bobby Thomas. Already wears sky blue and just about commutable for him. Get John Stones signed up as soon as possible.

Stephen: I think Bassette has impressed elsewhere and I'd say good luck for the future. Ruben Loftus-Cheek is one I'd consider as he has experience and flexibility.

Lloyd: Player out, Jake Bidwell. Player in, Lois Openda.

Kevan: Happy with the transfer business so far. I think we still need another left-back, central midfielder and striker. Hopefully Rushworth comes in this week. I think Oliver Dovin and Luke Woolfenden will leave and a fair few will go out on loan.

Image source, Cambridge United

Cambridge United have signed defender Callum Perry from Coventry City on a season-long loan deal.

The 20-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan at National League side Rochdale, where he made 25 appearances and scored a penalty in the play-off final at Wembley to help them seal a spot in League Two.

Perry's move to the newly-promoted League One club comes after he signed a new long-term deal with Premier League side Coventry last month.

"I'm buzzing," Perry said. "I just want to get better and help the team and I think this is the perfect place to do that."

Cambridge boss Neil Harris added: "We look forward to helping Callum develop and progress as a young player on his journey to the top."

In the latest Sky Blues Fancast, BBC CWR's Rob Gurney and Will Oelrich discuss Coventry City's pre-season draw at Northampton Town and hear from Richard Williams, the producer of the Back Where We Belong documentary.

Listen below or on BBC Sounds here - and subscribe to the dedicated Coventry City page to get all Sky Blues audio content.

Image source, Getty Images

Thirty-four years ago a £13m transfer caused national outrage in Italy.

When AC Milan signed Gianluigi Lentini from Torino in 1992 for a then world record fee, newspapers called the deal "obscene", while the Vatican's official newspaper described it as "an offence against the dignity of work".

Today that fee would barely register among the Premier League's biggest transfers.

This summer alone Chelsea have agreed a club record £117m deal for Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers, Manchester City paid Nottingham Forest £116m for Elliot Anderson, and Tottenham spent a club record £100m on Sandro Tonali.

These are not the only major deals. Tottenham also agreed an £85m move for West Ham midfielder Mateus Fernandes, Barcelona paid £69m to sign Anthony Gordon from Newcastle United, and Manchester United spent £50m on Chelsea midfielder Andrey Santos.

It is the first transfer window in Premier League history to produce three £100m-plus signings - and there are still weeks to go before deadline day on 1 September.

During the 2025 summer window English top-flight clubs spent a record £3bn.

So why are transfer fees continuing to climb? Why are clubs paying record sums for players already playing in England? And why are more clubs willing to sell some of their biggest stars?

Read more here on the big spending taking place in the Premier League

With the 2026 World Cup done and dusted, the return of club football is back on everyone's minds.

Pre-season preparations are under way and we want you to have a think about Coventry City's squad.

Tell us one player you would like to move on this summer and one realistic target you want the Sky Blues to bring in before the transfer window shuts.

Get in touch with your picks here

Warwickshire farmer Martin Brandreth is a Coventry City fan and has ploughed the letters PUSB into one of his fields.

Here's a closer look at what can be seen from the skies...

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Coventry City played out a goalless draw at Northampton Town on Saturday in their first of three fan-facing pre-season friendlies.

Both teams used the game as a way of getting minutes for players, with new signing Loum Tchaouna featuring before Coventry boss Frank Lampard made eight changes at half-time.

And while the game didn't offer much in terms of excitement, the Sky Blues supporters travelled in their numbers, making up 3,041 of the total 5,060 attendance.

Many used it as a chance to reflect on how far the club has come in the last decade, having played home matches at Sixfields 13 years ago due to the ongoing dispute between Coventry City Council and previous owners Sisu Capital over the then Ricoh Arena.

Lampard's side will continue their pre-season against Espanyol on Saturday, 8 August at the Coventry Building Society Arena.

BBC Sport understands the Sky Blues have other friendlies lined-up behind closed doors.

Listen to what Sky Blues winger Tchaouna had to say on BBC Sounds

Image source, Getty Images

With pre-season officially in full swing, we asked you to tell us what you're looking forward to about club football returning.

Here are some of your replies:

Darren: I'm looking forward to being back in the big leagues. I think we might surprise a few people. PUSB!

Neil: I'm a Coventry lad who lives in the US so I'm looking forward to us becoming more known globally, with the spotlight of the Premier League. I'm confident we can stay up and push on.

Jon: Looking forward to the first game - I'll be sitting in the home end having travelled up from Cornwall to watch the first game back with the big boys. Remember the 1967 promotion year well - particularly the Wolves match and early years in Division One.

MK: Seeing Cov back in the Premier League!

Pre-season is just around the corner and the Premier League returns in just over a month.

Here is Coventry's full pre-season schedule - with kick-off times in BST.

• 18 July v Northampton Town (A) - 14:00

• 8 August v Espanyol (H) - 17:30

• 14 August v Monaco (H) - 19:00

Image source, Getty Images

Former Coventry City goalkeeper Steve Ogrizovic is "sure business will be done in the next few weeks" as the Sky Blues prepare to end their 25-year absence from the Premier League.

Speaking to BBC CWR before Thursday's signing of Switzerland defender Aurele Amenda from Eintracht Frankfurt, Ogrizovic said: "We've had all the adulation, enjoyment and excitement of last season and the fact we have made it into the Premier League. Now, it's all starting get a bit real.

"The fans want to see people come in. They want to see what type of team we are going to have at the start of the season.

"It will be interesting to see who comes in and it will be interesting to see how we do during those early stages."

On facing Arsenal in the opening game of the top-flight campaign, Ogrizovic said: "We've got a great start to the season. To play the current champions in your first game of the season away is absolutely fantastic.

"You've got to play the top teams at some stage, so play them early. Arsenal will be without the players that are playing in the World Cup."

Frank Lampard's side face Hull City in their first home game and Ogrizovic added: "Everybody expects us to beat Hull because we're at home and they're a promoted side with us - but that won't be easy. We can certainly get three points against Hull."

On bringing in new players for the season ahead, he said: "Coventry do well on recruitment. They do look at the players and they do look at the stats and the data, and you've got to hope that there is some real growth in that player.

"It looks like you're not getting a player for anywhere near less than £20m. That's the premium you pay for being a Premier League club. There's going to have to be more as well. It will just be interesting to see who they are and how much it is going to cost."

Hit play below to hear the full clip below or listen here on BBC Sounds

Fulhamhave joined Coventry and Chelsea in looking at Strasbourg and Ivory Coast winger Martial Godo, 23. (Africafoot - in French), external

Newcastle are in talks over Brighton goalkeeper Carl Rushworth, who spent last season on loan at Coventry. (Mail), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

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