Peterborough United have pipped bigger clubs to their latest signing from non-league football

The deal was finally done late on Monday evening after a day of medicals and contract negotiations. The fee will remain undisclosed, but there was a weekend report suggesting the clubs had agreed on a fair price of £350k for a 22 year-old who attracted interest from bigger clubs than Posh, including Ipswich Town and Portsmouth.

Conn-Clarke has signed a three-year deal with a one-year option. The Northern Ireland U21 international scored 22 goals in 47 appearances for Altrincham in the National League in the 2023/24 campaign.

He started his career at Glentoran in Northern Ireland, before moving to Premier League side Burnley in 2018 and then to Fleetwood Town in 2021, taking loans at Chorley, Waterford and Altrincham before making the move to the latter permanent in June 2023, signing for a club record fee.

Posh boss Darren Ferguson was delighted to get the deal over the line: “Chris is a player we have liked for a while and despite having to fight off a lot of interest from elsewhere we are pleased to have secured his services for the new campaign. He has all the attributes to step up to League One level after a fantastic season in the National League and I’m sure he will be a brilliant acquisition for the club. I’m looking forward to working with him.”

Conn-Clarke, or ‘Cricky’ as he’s known, added. “The manager gave me a fantastic presentation on how he sees me fitting into the team and why he wanted to bring me to the club. Once I’ve completed pre-season, I’ll set my targets for goals & assists and try to hit them, but really I want to stamp my authority on the team and I hope the fans enjoy watching what I do.

“You can see what this football club does with young players. They make them better, and that’s what I want. The manager loves working with young players and being here gives me the best chance to improve myself and kick on further.

“I had an amazing time at Altrincham, but unfortunately, we didn’t quite get over the line losing in the National League play-off semi-finals. But I’m fully focused on doing all I can to achieve my goals here at Peterborough United and can’t wait to get going.”