Peterborough chairman reveals transfer for Premier League teenager broke down over five-figure wage demands

Darragh MacAnthony has revealed that a Premier League academy star preferred to ‘collect his money’ over making a career in the EFL.

The Peterborough United chairman told talkSPORT that a deal for the teenager, whose contract in the top-flight expires next year, collapsed over his £11,000-a-week wages.

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Posh, who reside in League One, are no strangers to clubs further up the pyramid swooping in to poach their top talents.

22-year-old winger Kyrell Lisbie was sold to Championship side Millwall last weekend despite signing a contract extension as recently as April.

However, Peterborough’s attempts at strengthening their squad are being hampered by talents higher division clubs don’t even want.

MacAnthony admitted a 19-year-old transfer target is already commanding wages that would make him the club’s highest-paid player despite his lack of experience.

‘He wants his money’

“The biggest problem with the Premier League academies, and I’m not having a go at the Premier League,” He explained on talkSPORT.

“I was trying to sign a player last week. The player is already 11 grand a week at 19.

“That’s way above our pay. He’s got a year left.

“We want to do a four-year deal. He doesn’t want to leave for the year because he wants his money.

“So now he’s going to spend the year there, go out on loan; he could have a disaster, and then where’s he going after that?”

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Peterborough are no strangers to dealing with Premier League academies, having loaned Jimmy-Jay Morgan from Chelsea last year.

The 20-year-old was lured back to Cobham over then-club Southampton with a five-figure salary in February 2023.

England youth international never managed a single senior appearance with the Blues but impressed on loan with Peterborough.

Morgan scored 14 times in 39 appearances for Posh last campaign and has now joined West Brom on a four-year deal.

Yet MacAnthony picked Chelsea’s London rivals Brentford and Crystal Palace as two of his favourite Premier League clubs to deal with.

The 50-year-old famously oversaw the deal which saw England striker Ivan Toney join the Bees in 2020 with a significant sell-on clause.

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Inside Toney’s transfer to Brentford

The 30-year-old striker, who now resides in the Saudi Pro League, had just one year left on his Peterborough contract at the time of his exit.

MacAnthony added on talkSPORT’s segment ‘Ask the Chairman’: “When I was selling Ivan Toney, he had a year left, and they were initially not going to Brentford straightaway, and I had a conversation with him and his dad, and I said, ‘Well, if you don’t go to Brentford today, we’re basically keeping you for the rest of the season. You can run your contract down.’

“But it either happens now, or never, because we have to replace you, we have a pre-season, we can’t let this drag on.

“So that’s the best move for you, get rocking and rolling. Or, by dinner time, if you’re still here at St. George’s, we had a camp, I said, we ain’t signing anyone else, and you’re staying for a year.

“And he looked at me, and his dad looked at me, and they were like gone by lunchtime. Call their bluff sometimes, call their bluff.”