Peterborough United chairman reveals centre-back has walked out on the club, but his manager is trying to broker an agreement between player and club
Oscar Wallin has walked out on Peterborough United.
Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony made the startling revelation on the latest edition of his ‘Hard Truth’ podcast which was released on Thursday morning.
Wallin has been absent from the Weston Homes Stadium since starting the 2-0 League One defeat at Wigan Athletic on August 16. His unavailability was recorded as ‘personal issue’ by first-team manager Darren Ferguson who admitted the 24 year-old centre-back had returned to his Swedish homeland.
According to MacAnthony, Wallin has indicated he will not be returning to Posh, but he has refused to terminate his contract and is still getting paid.
MacAnthony said: “Oscar informed us on a matchday a few weeks ago that he’d left and that he, potentially, didn’t want to come back. We reached out to Oscar’s agent to say we needed to talk and to ask him if he was ok and what we could do to help.
"Was it a cultural thing which was a fear when we signed a player from abroad? Would they be able to settle as English football is very different to Swedish football? It’s a different culture, the dressing rooms are different. Oscar came back to us to say he wasn’t coming back to the club. That was the message and we were like ‘how does that work?’
"We spent around £150k on him, although money was not the most important thing. We wanted fairness from both sides. We showed a willingness to be supportive. We are conscious of mental health issues in football, but we are a struggling club. I didn’t want to be seen as a ruthless so-and-so, but we offered to come to an agreement before the transfer window closed.
"We would let him go which would some salary cap space for us before the transfer window deadline, but he said he didn’t want to do that and wanted to keep getting paid. Do we have to keep paying him?”
Posh boss Darren Ferguson said on Thursday he is in contact with Oscar as they try to come to a mutually acceptable agreement.
Ferguson said: “All I will say is Oscar is away dealing with a personal issue. I am in good communication with the boy and we are working towards an outcome with Oscar and his agent.”
Posh signed Wallin from Swedish club Degerfors in August 2024. He struggled at first to cope with the physical intensity of League One, but settled into a decent central defensive partnership alongside Sam Hughes in the second-half of last season.
Wallin started the first 4 games of this season before disappearing. He has made 45 Posh appearances.