‘So much talent’ - Matt Grimes explains why he switched Swansea for Coventry City
New Coventry City signing Matt Grimes believes there’s “so much talent” in Frank Lampard’s Championship squad, insisting he’s joined a club with “massive ambitions.”
The 29-year-old midfielder has brought an end to his ten year spell with Swansea City to join the Sky Blues, moving on a three-and-a-half year contract after the two clubs agreed an ‘undisclosed’ fee, understood to be between £3.5m-£4m.
Speaking for the first time about his big move, Grimes said: “I’m really happy to be here. It happened so quickly. It’s a club with massive ambitions and I got that after speaking with Dean (Austin), the head coach and the chairman.
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“I brought into this project purely because of the ambition and where I see this club going. It’s a team on the rise and I’m happy to be here and be a part of this project.”
Asked what he hopes to give the fans, he said: “I’m hoping I can give them consistency. I feel like I’ve based a lot of my career on that, and you know what you’re getting from me most weeks.
“I try and stitch everything together from front to back and try to control the game and dictate the tempo of it and try to help the team that way.
“It is a young group and I’m hoping I can bring that experience and help the young players here flourish. There’s so much talent here and it’s just trying to get the best out of everyone and making the team as strong as possible.
“It’s a fantastic squad with a lot of young talent and if I can help with that experience on and off the pitch then that will be perfect.”
Grimes already knows Joel Latibeaudiere and Jake Bidwell from their time playing together with the Swans, as well as Jamie Paterson who is currently training with the Sky Blues.
“I’ve heard a lot about the club from Lats and Bidders and it’s a journey I want to be a part of and one I’m looking forward to,” he said.
“It makes the transition a lot easier especially when they say such good things at the club, and they’ve said this club is on the rise and that was a big part of my decision moving here and it’s great to have familiar faces around the place to make settling in easier.”
Speaking about his decision to leave Swansea, he explained: “It’s moved really quickly, but once I heard of the interest and had conversations with all my family and weighing things up, it felt like the right thing to do and I’m just so happy now it’s done.
“It was a difficult decision. I’ve been at Swansea for a long time, and I’ve got a good relationship with everyone at the club and the manager there is fantastic, and he is a great guy and a top manager, so to walk away from that was really difficult, but I think that speaks volumes of what is going on here that I’ve walked away from to be part of this project.
“I will always hold fond memories in my heart of Swansea, and I’ve raised three children there, but this is home now, and I can’t wait to get started.”