Have Sheffield United been given the green light to prepare a bid for Peterborough hotshot Jonson Clarke-Harris?
Sheffield United could have received the green light to follow up on their reported interest in Jonson Clarke-Harris after Barry Fry, the striker’s director of football at Peterborough, admitted the striker could earn more money away from London Road.
United have been linked with a move for the striker after a stunning season saw him score 33 goals in 49 games to help Posh win automatic promotion to the Championship – where they will face United next season after their relegation from the Premier League.
Clarke-Harris, who counts Rotherham United amongst his former clubs, has also been linked with Rangers after his goal-laden season and, speaking to This is Futbol, Fry admitted: “Without divulging, the player’s not on a fortune. At our level you don’t get a fortune and at Peterborough you don’t get a fortune.
“Throughout the last 25 years, we’ve put players in there, we’ve developed players, and the owners have put so much in, and it’s my job to sell a player to offset the losses.”
Fry revealed earlier this season that United scouts watched Clarke-Harris score a hat-trick in a 7-0 rout of Accrington Stanley and United’s decision to monitor the 26-year-old, despite not having a permanent manager in place, is perhaps indicative of how recruitment will be handled in the future when a decision on Chris Wilder’s successor is eventually made.
Fry’s decision to publicly state, earlier in the season, that Posh could sell Clarke-Harris for around five times the amount that they paid for him could be interpreted as an invitation for clubs to bid around £5m for the striker’s services.