Millions of pounds worth of talent in the Posh youth team

Posh under 18s retained their Youth Alliance League title this season and MacAnthony insists there are gems within Matthew Etherington’s squad.

The co-owner revealed on his ‘Hard Truth’ podcast that he’s turned down bids totalling £2.2 million for two players in the squad, thought to be first-team player Flynn Clarke and 16 year-old Portuguese forward Adler Nascimento.

Nascimento scored the title-clinching goal for the under 18s last weekend and travelled with the first-team to Gillingham last week.

MacAnthony said: “We will have 10 Academy graduates in the squad next season. We have turned down £2.2 million for a 16 year-old and 18-year old already this season.”

It’s known Posh rejected a £700k bid from Norwich City for Clarke in January.

Ferguson recently introduced Nascimento into the first-team squad. He has trained with them and was also involved in the warm-up ahead of Saturday’s win against AFC Wimbledon.

“Adler has come to our attention,” Ferguson admitted. “He’s only just turned 16 and he’s a good player with a lovely temperament.

“We had a look at Adler training with the first team to see how he would cope and within two minutes I could tell he would be fine. He scored a goal straight away.

“I would have had no hesitation in putting him on the substitutes’ bench if someone had dropped out at Gillingham. We have high hopes for him.”

Nascimento has signed a pre-contract at Posh to protect the club from predators. He can sign a professional deal at the age of 17.