Coventry City: Mark Robins reveals Matty Godden action ahead of Charlton Athletic transfer | OneFootball

The City stalwart left the club to move back down to League One earlier in the summer.

Mark Robins has said that Matty Godden expressed a desire for more consistent minutes ahead of his move from Coventry City and to Charlton Athletic.

Godden had a few potential suitors this summer, including newly promoted Oxford United, according to journalist Alan Nixon, but the 32-year-old elected to go to the Valley over the Kassam Stadium.

He is the natural successor to the departing Alfie May, who has left Charlton to join League One rivals Birmingham City.

The initial interest in him from Nathan Jones' side was reported by the South London Press back in early May, who said that the Addicks were positioning themselves to be at the front of the Godden queue if he came available.

The forward hasn't played in the third tier since he won promotion with Coventry back in the 2019/20 campaign, and there was no guarantee that he was going to be moved on by the Sky Blues this summer.

But the decision was made to let him leave, and the City boss has revealed why it came to that for Godden.

Mark Robins on Matty Godden departure

Robins has said that the striker wanted to play more consistent minutes so, because he could not guarantee that to him, he explored other options and he decided that the Addicks were the best fit for him.

"Matty and Kels [Liam Kelly, who left Coventry to join Rotherham United earlier in the summer], they have both been stalwarts and fantastic for us," said the City manager to Coventry Live. "Kels was with us all the way from League Two and Matty from League One.

"They were both champions in League One and helped establish us as a good Championship team. Matty played and took part in some huge games and has been a massive part of what we have achieved. And to say goodbye to anyone is difficult but those two, in particular, have played a huge role and done great for us.

"Matty expressed a desire to go and play more regularly and I couldn’t promise him that, so when Charlton came up that was perfect for him and it fitted with us as well.

"So we just wish them all the best because they are brilliant people as well as top professionals."

Allowing Matty Godden to leave was a smart decision by Coventry

It wasn't just the forward himself that could see his minutes declining, it was very visible from the outside looking in too.

Ellis Simms and Haji Wright being brought in last summer pushed him further down the pecking order, and he was no longer a regular part of the Sky Blues' starting XI.

Not only from a footballing perspective did it make sense to let Godden leave, on the Coventry side of things, getting a fee (an undisclosed one) for a player that was going to be out of contract this time next year was a good bit of business.

For the Kent-born striker, personally, he is also now closer to home than he was, as he enters into the latter stages of his career.