, Bristol Rovers summer signing reveals he “didn’t want to leave” Coventry City

Bristol Rovers summer signing reveals he “didn’t want to leave” Coventry City

Speaking to the Sky Blues Extra podcast, Bristol Rovers midfielder Zain Westbrooke has said that he did not want to leave Coventry City in the summer transfer window.

In the summer transfer window, midfielder Zain Westbrooke left Coventry City to join Bristol Rovers in a surprise move.

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Westbrooke thoroughly impressed with the Sky Blues as Mark Robins’ side won promotion to the Championship. However, the midfielder left the club at the end of the season to make a shock return to League One with Ben Garner’s Bristol Rovers.

Now, Westbrooke has opened up on his decision to leave Coventry in the summer. Speaking to the Sky Blues Extra podcast, the 24-year-old said that he didn’t want to leave the club in the summer, saying he had to make then decision for the sake of his career.

“I didn’t want to leave Coventry,” he said.

“I loved it there. I often said it wasn’t work, I was going in to see my mates every day and play football.

“I didn’t want to leave but it was a weird scenario that I never really got to the bottom of, and didn’t need to in the end because I felt like I wasn’t wanted in the way I was when the contract was being offered when I was playing every week in the team.

“I just felt I had to make the decision for my career.”

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Westbrooke went on to provide insight into what persuaded him to make a move to Bristol Rovers. The midfielder said that the Gas were not initially showing interest but a PowerPoint sent by the club swayed him.

“I was speaking to about five or six clubs and (Rovers) weren’t a club I was speaking to, so they weren’t in the mix. But, they called my agent and said they’d like to speak to me and show me their plans.

“They sent me a PowerPoint with quite a lot on me, a bit like when Mark Robins spoke to me when I joined Coventry, and I felt that instant want for me, and the part I would play – the big role.

“I said to my dad, ‘that’s what I want, for someone to want me to be the main player,’ rather than just go there to be a number. And one of the formations he wanted to play was the box midfield that we played at Coventry, and he said I’d be perfect to come in because I knew it tactically.

“So it took me a week or so to make the decision. It might have seemed a bit weird from the outside but for me it was quite a clear and obvious decision.”

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Since signing for Bristol Rovers, Westbrooke has played in 12 games across all competitions, laying on two assists in the process.

Coventry City fans, would you have liked to see Westbrooke stay at the club in the summer transfer window? Let us know what you think in the poll at the bottom of the page.

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