Lewie Coyle's agent has insisted that he had to move the player on after saying that there was 'no room at the inn' for him at Leeds United.

The 24-year-old had spent two years on loan with Fleetwood Town and with his contract set to expire in the summer it appeared that the writing was on the wall for the defender.

Coyle made that loan switch permanent as he signed a three-and-a-half year deal to join Joey Barton's side earlier this month.

Coyle's agent, Steve Blatherwick, spoke out on the deal and said that while he doesn't usually like moving players on in the January window, he had little choice in the matter this time.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Blatherwick said: "I don’t know about other agents but I’m happy when players stay at their clubs, I don’t want to move them.

“The Coyley thing, I had to move him, we had to move him because there was no room at the inn so to speak.”

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The verdict

Few can blame Steve Blatherwick for moving Lewie Coyle to Fleetwood Town this month.

It's a move that makes perfect sense for all parties.

Coyle was never going to break into Marcelo Bielsa's plans at Leeds United, and given his popularity under Joey Barton, it's a move which was a bit of a no-brainer.

While I'm sure he would have loved to break into the team at Elland Road, sometimes a player needs to move on in order to progress.

The hope for Coyle will now be to kick on and help the League One side move up the table.