Peterborough United reject bid from Premier League club for Ronnie Edwards

Ronnie Edwards (left) in action for Posh. Photo: Joe Dent/theposh.com.

Director of football Barry Fry declined to name the club involved in a week when Aston Villa and Southampton joined Spurs and Crystal Palace in being heavily linked with the 19 year-old England youth international.

Bundesliga clubs RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt and Borrusia Dortmund have also reportedly shown an interest in Edwards, but Fry has revealed Edwards would prefer to move to a Premier League club, if he leaves London Road at all.

Posh want a club record transfer package for Edwards in excess of the £10million it took Brentford to land striker Ivan Toney. A fee of £15million has been mentioned for a player who has started just 40 senior games cince joining Posh from Barnet in August 2020.

It’s understood the bid for Edwards was in excess of £2 million.

"We've had many conversations with many clubs about Ronnie,” Fry said. “And we have had one bid from a Premier League club which we turned down as it fell well short of our valuation of the player.

"I’m not surprised he is getting linked with some big clubs, although I have not spoken to anyone from Southampton or Aston Villa.

"Ronnie has told me his preference is to stay in England and play in the Premier League, but he’s also happy to stay with us if we decide to keep him.

"He’s under contract for another three years so there is no rush. If our asking price isn’t met he won’t be leaving.

"I doubt anything will develop until Ronnie returns from England Under 19 duty in the summer. I would imagine some big clubs will be watching him closely in that tournament.”

Edwards is expected to be in the England squad for the European Under 19 Championships in Slovakia between June 18 and July 1 after a breakthough season with Posh in the Championship.

It emerged last month that legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had recommended Edwards to Old Trafford chiefs on the say-so of his son Darren Ferguson. Ferguson signed Edwards and called him the ‘best young player I’ve ever managed.’