Coventry City Development Officer Steve Waggott has said that the club wanted Martin Cranie to stay.
Cranie has announced that he has rejected a contract offer from City and is now looking to ply his trade elsewhere.
Speaking to Sky Blue Player, Mr Waggott said: "We are sorry to see Martin go. We did everything we could to keep him here but the lure of playing at a higher level was too great.
"Although we wanted Martin to stay, we obviously knew there was a chance he would leave as he was out of contract and that meant it was out of our control.
"The fact that it hasn't come out of the blue means we have options in place.
"Finally, we would like to wish Martin well in his future career."
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