It will cost Sheffield United at least £6.25m if they want to sign Peterborough United striker Jonson Clarke-Harris.
Peterborough director of football, Barry Fry, has revealed the Blades are among the clubs interested in League One’s leading scorer.
“There were several Championship clubs chasing Jonson in January and Bournemouth were the most persistent. We had several offers for the player, but we turned them down flat. Even though we could probably get five times what we paid for him,” Fry told The Peterborough Telegraph.
“We want promotion this season so there’s no way we would have let him go. It was the same situation with Ivan Toney last season. We could have sold him in January, but we were never going to. The owners have done great to resist cashing in at a time when football clubs are struggling financially.
“Rangers have been to a lot of our matches this season and they were there on Saturday. Sheffield United were also there, but West Brom weren’t.
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“I didn’t have a conversation about Jonson with any of them though.”
Do United need Jonson Clarke-Harris?
Bristol Live reports that Bristol Rovers sold Clarke-Harris to the Posh in August for an initial £1.25m.
With add-ons for goals and promotion, that fee could apparently exceed £2m.
If Fry is expecting “five times” what Peterborough paid for Clarke-Harris to sell him, that would be at least £6.25m.
Which would be a significant outlay for the Blades if, as expected, they return to the Championship next season.
While goals have been hard to come by in 2020/21 for the Premier League’s lowest scorers, they still have lots of options.
Oli McBurnie netted 22 goals for Swansea City in the second tier the season before joining United.
Rhian Brewster scored 11 times in 22 appearances for Swansea on loan from Liverpool last term.
Both David McGoldrick and Billy Sharp have also proven themselves in the division before.
Lys Mousset has been linked with a summer exit from Bramall Lane, but with Oli Burke that would still leave five attacking options.
Spending a significant sum on Clarke-Harris hardly seems like a sensible decision. Even if the 27-year-old has impressed with 27 goals this campaign.
Midfield, in particular, needs addressing first.
