Chelsea hold conversations with Peterborough United about Ronnie Edwards, while bids galore for Posh players are turned down

Ronnie Edwards in action for Posh against Chelsea ln July 2021. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

The London powerhouses have been represented at the first two Posh matches at Cheltenham and at home to Morecambe.

They have primarily been keeping tabs on on-loan Posh goalkeeper Lucas Bergstrom. but London Road director of football Barry Fry has confirmed Edwards has now caught their eye, although no bids have been made.

If Edwards does leave, Posh remain keen on a deal that includes loaning him straight back to help the club’s determination to make an instant return to the Championship.

Ronnie Edwards in action for England in the under 19 European Championship semi-final. Photo: VLADIMIR SIMICEK/AFP via Getty Images.

"I’ve had conversations with people at Chelsea who are in the know and who would be involved in any decision-making,” Fry stated. “They came to watch Lucas, but they were taken by Ronnie. They haven’t made a bid yet, but there are three weeks until the transfer window closes. They certainly like him.

“Virtually the entire Premier League know about Ronnie and it’s interesting to see members of his England Under 19 team attracting attention now. Chelsea signed one last week and Southampton have just made a big bid for another of the players (Liam Delap). I have had big clubs asking to be kept informed if anyone does bid for Ronnie.

"Our position on Ronnie remains the same. It’s going to have to be a big bid to get him and we would try and make sure he was sent straight back to us.

"We don’t want to break up what I believe is the strongest squad in terms of depth in my 26 years at the club. We’ve been turning bids down right, left and centre all summer.”

Chelsea are understood to be keen on increasing the number of young English qualified players at Stamford Bridge. Last week they signed Carney Chukwuemeka from Aston Villa for a fee in the region of £20 million. Chukwuemeka was a teammate of Edwards as England won the Under 19 European Championship title in the summer.

Chelsea have joined Manchester City, Manchester United, Spurs, Aston Villa, Southampton and Crystal Palace as Premier League clubs to have shown an interest in Edwards.

Posh sold Sammie Szmodics to Blackburn Rovers last week for a reported transfer package of £2.5 million.