The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Siriki still determined to leave the Weston Homes Stadium
Posh - Will a transfer-listed player help the club get established in the Championship?
Wantaway Posh star Siriki Dembele has been told to play his way out of the Weston Homes Stadium.
Dembele has confirmed he will not be signing a new Posh contract even though he failed to get his desired move to pastures new in the summer transfer window.
Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony accepts that decision and he hopes Dembele’s determination to join a top-end Championship club will benefit his current team.
MacAnthony, who had an agreement with Dembele to sell him if an acceptable bid was made last month, said: “I’m glad we kept him to be honest. His value to us as we try and establish ourselves in the Championship is probably greater than the transfer fee we would have received, especially with the 20% of the profit his former club (Grimsby) would have been entitled to.
“Siriki’s agents were stalking me for a couple of days, including right at the end of the transfer window, asking me if I’d accept certain fees, but there was never enough money involved.
“I was verbally turning down £2.5 million offers for Siriki before he’d scored twice in two Championship matches this season so there was never any chance I’d accept less.
“He’s not going to sign a new deal so the best thing for Siriki to do now is to get fit, make himself available for training, get in the team and show what he can do. He’s already shown it in glimpses, but before the West Brom game he wasn’t fit enough to train on the Thursday so my gaffer was never likely to pick him.
“I’d have thought a game live on the television would have been ideal for him to get noticed. Instead he played for just half an hour.
“If he gets going and scores 8-10 goals before January maybe someone will still pay £3 million for him in the next window. That could happen even with just six months left on a contract.”
Posh purchased Dembele for a reported £250k from Grimsby in July, 2018. He has scored 28 goals in 127 appearances for Posh. He is one of only two players to have scored a goal for Posh in six competitive matches this season. Harrison Burrows is the other.
Dembele first requested a transfer in January. He is out of contract at the end of the current season so could leave Posh for nothing. Fulham and Bournemouth were reportedly interested in the player.
MacAnthony: ‘Siriki’s agents stalked me for a couple of days.’