"There's excitement, I can finally relax knowing it's done and that I'm back with the boys and at a club I loved being at," Rushworth said, capping off a deal that took three months of negotiation to complete.
That relief is well earned: across seven years at Brighton, the goalkeeper never once made a senior appearance for the club, cycling through six separate loan spells, including stops at Walsall, Lincoln City, Swansea and Hull, since signing from hometown side Halifax Town in 2019.
It took a season-long loan at Coventry City to finally establish him, and last term he repaid that faith in full, playing every one of the club's 46 league games and keeping 17 clean sheets to win the Golden Glove as Coventry won the Championship title and ended a 25-year absence from the Premier League.
That form forced Coventry's hand. Brighton initially rejected an opening bid before the two clubs settled on terms reported at £22.5m, potentially rising to £30m with add-ons and including a sell-on clause and buy-back option for the Seagulls, comfortably making Rushworth the club's record signing ahead of the £17m paid for Aurèle Amenda earlier in the window; neither club has confirmed the exact figure or the length of his new "long-term" deal.
Coventry had briefly explored alternatives, including a look at Chelsea's Filip Jörgensen, before this deal came together.
"It's great to have Carl back with us on a permanent basis," said manager Lampard. "He's a top professional, a great character and he had a huge impact on the team to help us get promoted last season."
Rushworth becomes Coventry's fourth signing of the summer, following Amenda, Loum Tchaouna and Frank Onyeka, as Lampard looks to build a squad capable of surviving in the top flight.