"I cannot believe this" - EFL Pundit reacts to Matt Grimes news involving Swansea City and Coventry City | OneFootball

Ali Maxwell has provided his verdict as Matt Grimes closes in on an exit from Swansea City to Coventry City.

Ali Maxwell of the Not The Top 20 podcast has dropped a scathing review of Swansea City and their ownership regarding the sale of Matt Grimes to Coventry City.

Coventry's pursuit of Grimes was first called by BBC Sport Wales, with a recent update from Tom Coleman of Wales Online further detailing a seemingly-impending switch to the CBS Arena following a decade of service for the Welsh side.

It was revealed exclusively by Football League World yesterday that Swansea were demanding at least £3.5 million from Coventry to acquire Grimes' services. Now, Wales Online are reporting that a fee has been agreed in that region.

The latest report states that the fee is likely to be between £3.5 million to £4 million. Grimes has played the last of his 333 games the Swans, who are currently 17th in the Championship table, four points off Lampard's side as both eye a place in the play-offs by May.

He is set for a medical on Thursday, per Football Insider's Pete O'Rourke, with Swansea officially announcing that Grimes has expressed his desire to seek a fresh challenge through a transfer to another Championship club:

Ali Maxwell's verdict on the Matt Grimes situation at Swansea City

Ali Maxwell of the Not The Top 20 podcast spoke via their midweek show 'Under The Lights'. The EFL Pundit said: "Matt Grimes is expected to leave. I cannot believe this. I can’t believe Matt Grimes is being sold.

"This is because of what he represents as a leader for the team. That can't last forever and Swansea have to plan for life post-Grimes. I can't believe it in the situation they are in right now, and with the fanbase so unhappy with the ownership in particular, with their stock at a real low, with Luke Williams' stock seeming very low with the fanbase.

"To sell your captain, leader, legend, and best player for a fee of £3million to 3.5 million — you can debate the value of it — but for Swansea fans, Grimes’ value is far higher than that. It’s not a fee that changes the trajectory of the club in terms of what they can do in the transfer market.

"Frankly, if it did, their recruitment has been pretty shoddy in the last 18 months. There are very few success stories that you can point to. Even if they did get £5 million for him, would you believe in them being able to use that to buy two or three really good players that could have anywhere near the impact of Matt Grimes? Absolutely not.

"But it’s also just stupid from the owners to do this. The relationship between the fans and an ownership group is very important to kind of underpin a good spirit around the place, which can help with performance and success on the pitch.

"If you’re already at a point where approval is very, very low, why on earth would you make this decision to sanction a departure of a player like this? To a rival in the same division quite close in the league table; I can’t believe it. I could talk about it for hours, quite frankly."

Matt Grimes is an excellent addition for Coventry City

The flip side of this discussion is that Coventry are signing an excellent player in the form of Grimes, as he has established himself as one of the league's best central midfielders and ball progressors over the last half-decade in the second tier.

There may not be resale value, but the calm, composed, and classy midfielder will raise the technical level of the midfield at the CBS Arena. He has proven with Swansea that he has the metronomic passing and the range of passes in his locker to control and dictate games.

Of course, the Coventry engine room has plenty of talent already, but none of the skill-set and passing ability that Grimes will bring to the table. He will hope to elevate his new teammates further and push them into the play-off picture. Grimes could and should complement the likes of Jack Rudoni, Ben Sheaf, Victor Torp, and Josh Eccles well.

His leadership, durability, availability, and experience is also likely to be invaluable as Coventry chase down a place inside the play-offs under Frank Lampard.