Selling Toney in January is not part of the Posh New Year plan

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Posh director of football Barry Fry insists selling star striker Ivan Toney during the January transfer window is not on the club’s agenda.

Rumours have been spreading about the 23 year-old’s future since the club revealed they turned down a £4 million bid from an unnamed Championship club for the player in August.

There was a suggestion in a national paper that Premier League clubs Bournemouth and Burnley were pursuing Toney and were quoted a staggering fee of £13 million!

Fry did admit there has been interest from three Championship clubs in Marcus Maddison, but his £2.5 million release clause fee is a problem for a player out of contract in June. Contrary to recent rumours, Derby are not one of those clubs.

“That £13 million valuation is nonsense,” Fry said. “We haven’t set a fee for Ivan because we have no interest in selling him. If he did go it would set a record fee for the club which incidentally is £8 million for Assomablonga and then £7.5 million for Gayle when you includ the add ons.

“But our board love Ivan and he isn’t going anywhere. We might have a problem with Ivan if he gets a whiff of a million pounds a year contract, but he’s a good lad with his feet on the ground and he knows that sort of offer isn’t likely.

“Marcus is different as if a club meets his transfer clause we can’t stop him leaving, but we will reject any other bid, even one as big as £2 million.

“The main intention for January is to sign players. We want midfielders and a backup striker in my opinion, but we might have to sell fringe players first to stay inside financial fairplay regulations and interest in the likes of Alex Woodyard and Aaron Chapman has been minimal.

“We need midfielders. Our front three have been brilliant considering how poor the service has been at times. We don’t need a centre-back. Josh Knight was originally signed as a centre-back.”

Posh players Woodyard, Chapman, Conor O’Malley, Callum Cooke, Jason Naismith and Mark O’Hara are all available for transfer.

Posh striker Ivan Toney is expected to be in demand during the January transfer window