Source: PA
Westwood will not be sold - Boothroyd
Coventry goalkeeper Keiren Westwood will not be sold in January and will run down his contract which expires at the end of the season, according to manager Aidy Boothroyd.
The highly-regarded Republic of Ireland international has courted plenty of attention from top-flight clubs in England and Scotland, with latest reports suggesting Celtic are keen to try and clinch a pre-contract agreement in January ahead of the predicted summer rush for his services.
Westwood opted not to sign a new contract in the summer and remains on good terms with boss Boothroyd, who must surely hope to convince his number one to stay by clinching promotion to the Premier League.
But asked about the latest speculation, Boothroyd on Thursday afternoon said: "I`ll tell you now, he`ll not be going anywhere in January. I`d rather his contract ran down and he went for nothing if that is what`s going to happen.
"We`re fifth in the league at the moment and we`re looking to finish a lot better than what we have for the past 10 years and what you don`t do is sell your best players. And you certainly don`t sell them when you`re getting next to nothing for them. So he will not be going anywhere, and neither will anybody else unless we want to sell them and we don`t want to do that right now."
Boothroyd`s stance is different to that of Sky Blues chairman Ray Ranson`s back in June who, when asked what would happen come the end of the season if Westwood refused to sign a new deal, replied: "If it gets that far then we would lose him for nothing on a Bosman free transfer - so that won't happen, I can assure you. We'd be forced to sell him. He won't be leaving this club for nothing, that's for certain."
