Peterborough United chairman has his say on transfer deadline day offers for Crystal Palace-linked defender

Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony has outlined what happened with Chelsea’s and Crystal Palace’s transfer pursuit of Ronnie Edwards, writes Edmund Brack.

It was reported that the Eagles had been hoping to sign the 19-year-old left-footed centre-back before last Thursday’s transfer deadline. Palace’s offer was believed to be £4million up-front with £4m in add-ons.

Edwards, who won the U19 European Championships with England over the summer, has been a long-term target for Palace. He featured 38 times for the Posh last season as they were relegated from the Championship.

Speaking on his podcast, The Hard Truth, MacAnthony said: “The decision was always if Ronnie went, he would have to come back [on loan]. We were never going to let him out without coming back.

“We got a phone call on Wednesday night from two different clubs that we knew wanted Ronnie.

“The director of football at one was honest with Baz [Posh director of football Barry Fry], he said: ‘We’re trying to get in before the big boys. At the end of every window, we have a little bit of spare money, so we will buy a young player or talent. He’s not going in our team right now, so he’s not going to affect our first team, so here’s what we can offer you’.”

It’s believed MacAnthony is referring to Crystal Palace’s sporting director Dougie Freedman, although he would not name the club or individual.

MacAnthony said: “I loved the honesty – it’s a really good club.

“He said to Barry: ‘I know he’s worth double, and I would pay it, but at the end of the day, I work for the people’.

“He’s clever – he’s doing what I would do. If there was a player in the lower leagues everyone was looking at, I would try to dive in before the teams who are bigger than us and can afford to pay more wages. I would try to do a deal and steal that player before anyone else sees what I see.

“There was another big club who saw him going into their U21s, and [they were] probably not wanting to give him back to us.

“He [the director of football for the first club] offered it in change. I counted the offer and said: ‘No, we’re not doing that.’

“The deal that was offered to us would have broken our transfer sale for an immediate fixed fee.

“They told us that they would be back in January, and we were alright with that.

“He [Edwards] is the most grounded kid. If he went into the Liverpool starting 11 [last] Saturday against Everton, it wouldn’t have fazed him – he wouldn’t have lost a minute’s sleep.

“That’s probably why he will play at the very top, because he is just so ice cool.”

MacAnthony also revealed Newcastle United sporting director Dan Ashworth referred to young Edwards as the “Rolls Royce” when speaking with Posh director of football Barry Fry.

The Eagles host Manchester United this Sunday at Selhurst Park. Erik ten Hag’s side have won four of their last games on the bounce after suffering a 4-0 defeat away to Brentford.

First team squad members Sam Johnstone, Jairo Riedewald, Chris Richards and Malcolm Ebiowei all played 90 minutes on Tuesday night as Palace U21s won 1-0 against Hertha Berlin II in the Premier League International Cup.

After scoring four goals in five games over the month of August, Wilfried Zaha has been nominated for the PFA Player of the Month Award. He is up against Erling Haaland [Manchester City], Gabriel Jesus [Arsenal], Martin Odegaard [Arsenal], Aleksandar Mitrovic [Fulham] and Pascal Gross [Brighton].

Summer arrival Cheick Doucoure has been called up to the Mali squad for their September internationals against Zambia and Libya.

Jordan Ayew has been called up to the Ghana squad for their friendlies against Brazil and Nicaragua.