MATT Grimes admits Coventry City’s ‘ambitions’ tempted him to make the move to the Sky Blues from Championship rivals Swansea City.
Grimes became Frank Lampard’s first signing as Sky Blues head coach after joining on a three-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
The 29-year-old midfielder arrived too late to feature against his former club last weekend but is in line to make his City debut against Leeds United in midweek (Wednesday, February 5).
And while Grimes admits it was a ‘difficult decision’ to leave former club Swansea, he is looking forward to the project ahead at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Grimes said: “It’s a club with massive ambitions and I got that after speaking with Dean [Austin], the head coach and the chairman.
“I bought 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.
“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.
“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.”
Grimes spent a decade with the Swans and became club captain in 2019, making 333 appearances and scoring 16 goals.
He also played four times for the club in the Premier League and hopes his experience will aid Coventry’s young squad.
Grimes added: “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 and control the game and dictate the tempo of it and try and 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 eon and off the pitch then that will be perfect.”
Grimes could make his City debut against Leeds at the CBS Arena on Wednesday, February 5 with kick-off at 7.45pm.
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