Source: FOOTYMAD
Brodie never wanted to leave
Richard Brodie has admitted he never really wanted to leave York City but that the club had told him Crawley Town's offer was "too good to turn down." The 23-year-old England 'C' international left Bootham Crescent this week in a deal understood to be worth around £275,000, which is a Conference record. However, it has since been revealed that the Gateshead-born striker had already rejected Crawley's advances three times before eventually agreeing to a switch south. "This wasn`t the first bid that was put in," Brodie told The Press. "There had been two or three bids which I turned down. The one that was for £275,000, I initially turned down last week."I said I didn`t want to leave the club. The club said the money was too good to turn down which is fair enough.“It wasn’t that I wanted to leave the club at all," he added. "I said no three times before and, the fourth time, I had to think a lot about things. It has been probably on my mind for two weeks and it probably affected my performance on the pitch.“I discussed it with family and friends and I broke the pros and cons down. On Tuesday I thought, ‘I am going to go’. It is a fresh start and a new challenge.“The money was right for the club and I decided it was right even though I was reluctant to go.” However, York officials were keen to stress that the final decision was always Brodie's as to whether he went or stayed."Crawley got in touch with us on Tuesday with a view to taking Richard Brodie," a club spokesperson commented. "We thought the deal was dead in the water because Richard had turned down the initial first move."Richard asked for a move. From a club point of view, we thought it was a good deal. We decided to accept and it was down to Richard to agree personal terms and the move to Crawley. He had the option to either go or not."
