Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony has cursed his transfer dealings in Scotland as he claimed the Posh failed in a bid to bring an unnamed Rangers star to London Road.
The outspoken Irish Championship chair is known for coming out and discussing his club’s transfer dealings in the press and was discussing Ivan Toney, now 25, being sold to Brentford.
Namely, MacAnthony was asked about reported Celtic interest in the striker prior to the move – with Peterborough still in League One – and claims the Parkhead club failed in a bid.
Rangers were also extensively linked – although not as closely – and since leaving Peterborough for Brentford in 2020 the striker has fired the Bees to the Premier League.
Oh, and also been valued at £35m after his £5m rising to £9m move from Cambridgeshire to London was a major success with 38 goals scored at the time of writing.
Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony explains failed Rangers transfer move
Darragh MacAnthony explained that Celtic lowballed their offer for the striker then threatened to pinch him on the cheap due to cross-border compensation rules.
These are the same rules that allowed Rangers to sign the likes of Joe Aribo from Charlton and interestingly, the Peterborough chairman claims this is a regular bargaining chip north of the border.
But more pertinently to Rangers, Darragh MacAnthony claims that his business dealings in Scotland have always been sour and namechecked summer interest in an unnamed Rangers player.
“I’ve never quite been able to do a deal with Celtic over the years, they came in for Lee Tomlin years ago [and Ivan Toney recently],” said Darragh MacAnthony [Football CFB Podcast].
“It’s never quite worked out between us, but hey, we all have our way of doing business.
“I tried to buy a player from Rangers over the summer and had the same issue. I’ve never really struck it well with Scotland, trying to do business with clubs there.
“It’s never been a great hunting ground for my recruitment process but hey, it is what it is and there are a lot of good players there.”
So who could Darragh MacAnthony have been trying to sign from Rangers?
The English Championship side were extensively linked to former Gers defender George Edmundson this summer and that appears the most obvious option.
Posh sporting director Barry Fry also claims that the club was priced out of a move because the Gers refused to budge on a £1.5m valuation of the defender.
However, former Oldham Athletic defender George Edmundson left in the summer for League One Ipswich Town in a deal reported as only being worth £1m by the Daily Record.
Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony also fumed when the centre-back joined Rangers in 2019 with the EFL club also interested in signing George before he moved to Ibrox.
Whilst George Edmundson has moved on from Ibrox, Rangers fans have a new centre-back favourite after his emergence under Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
