Coventry City Development Officer Steve Waggott has admitted that the Sky Blues cannot afford the basic wages to keep David McGoldrick.
Speaking to BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, Waggott said confirmed the club clearly cannot afford to match McGoldrick's basic salary at Championship clubs such as Nottingham Forest.
City have been paying a fraction of the wages of a player who has said that he wants to play at the highest level and is attracting the interest of a number of Championship clubs plus Dutch side FC Twente.