The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Coventry’s arrival completed a great transfer window
The signing of Conor Coventry from Premier League side West Ham United on loan for the rest of the season clinched a ‘great’ summer transfer window for Posh as far as chairman Darragh MacAnthony was concerned.
The deadline day arrival of Coventry ended a six-week pursuit by Posh for a highclass defensive midfielder with a wide passing range.
MacAnthony was happy enough to make public the nitty gritty of his club's work in the summer transfer window.
MacAnthony revealed...
• 9 signings made, including three for the under 23 squad.
• 9 new contracts signed.
• 6 players sold, loaned or released.
• Kept hold of key players
• £2.2 million spent on transfer fees.
• £1.4 million generated in sales so a -£800k spend
•Average age of squad 23.4
Posh hopes had been up and down as far as signing Coventry was concerned.
They had a gentleman’s agreement with Hammers owner David Sullivan in place at the end of July stating Posh would be the priority destination for Coventry.
But the move was contingent on West Ham recruiting in midfield areas and when Coventry started playing well for the Premier League club’s first team in pre-season and then made the substitutes’ bench for the first three competitive matches of the 202122 campaign Posh feared they would miss out on their number one target.
But when the Hammers signed midfielder Alex Kral from Spartak Moscow, Posh received the green light to sign Coventry. It meant a frantic dash to get the relevant papers signed before the player left the country with Ireland Under 21s, but the deal was eventually done.
MacAnthony said: “I’m very happy and I thank West Ham for getting the transfer done. They have been great to do business with.
“Conor will complement the midfield corps we already had at the club. We’ve had to be patient. The deal has been on the go for six weeks, but to be fair to West Ham they said we had to wait until they had recruited. We stuck in because he is a great young player.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Conor strut his stuff in the Championship. He’s another great character for the dressing room. We’ve had a great transfer window.”
Posh director of football Barry Fry praised Sullivan for sticking to his word even though seven other Championship clubs showed an interest in Coventry.
Fry said: “When we first made contact David Sullivan promised we would get him as soon as they made a midfield signing. Other clubs, bigger ones than us, showed an interest and doubtless offered a better financial package, but David stuck to his word.”