A defender recruited for nothing is among Darragh MacAnthony’s best signings for Peterborough United

Defender Russell Martin was a makeweight in the deal that also brought winger Sergio Torres to London Road from Wycombe Wanderers in July, 2008.

Martin helped Posh to promotion to the Championship in his first season and went on to play 66 times for Posh before leaving to join Norwich City in January, 2010.

The Canaries were in League One at the time, but Martin was part of a team that won back-to-back promotions to the Premier League. He played over 300 games for Norwich and now manages Swansea in the Championship.

“Finances play a part in what I call a successful transfer deal,” MacAnthony stated on his popular ‘Hard Truth’ podcast. “And we picked Russell up for nothing. We didn’t sell him for a lot, but we picked up a couple of million from Norwich promotions.

“Obviously the signing of Ivan Toney for £350k and then selling him for what will be £10 million was a big one, but he never won us a promotion whereas Jonson Clarke-Harris did.

“That makes Jonno’s transfer a successful one even at £1.2 million because he scored 33 goals and won the Golden Boot as well as a promotion.

“But the best has to be Dwight Gayle because we signed him for £600k and sold him for £6 million just six months later and we made more from his other moves as well.”

Gayle joined Posh from Dagenham & Redbridge in 2010 and sold him to Crystal Palace in July 2011.