Peterborough United have slapped a £4 million price tag on star forward Harry Leonard in their aim to keep him at London Road.
The former Blackburn Rovers prospect emerged as a true talisman for the League One club last season, and has already begun to carry that momentum into this season with four goals across five appearances so far.
Price Tag Revealed Following Williams Plea
However, it seems that Posh now may face some interest in Leonard before the window shuts, with Alan Nixon reporting through his Patreon page that unnamed sides have begun to show interest in the 22-year-old.
That has led to the hierarchy at Peterborough firmly setting their stall out, with it being revealed that they would demand a £4 million fee to consider selling the forward, who is under contract until the summer of 2029.
United boss Luke Williams has already made it clear that he wants to keep Leonard this window, telling the Peterborough Telegraph earlier this week:
“We have a team that are prepared to defend for each other and Harry is always the first one to jump out and press the opposition and covers back so that he keeps his distance between midfield.
“In turn, everyone hits the ball across to Harry and we try to find him as a priority. The midfield and wide players understand that. We try to feed him much as we can and Harry does the rest.
“He told me he hates all the other teams and wants to stay here and if anyone rings, please hang up on them!”
A £4 million fee would be in a similar ballpark to many other recent sales of League One forwards, with Bristol City shelling out that exact amount to sign Plymouth Argyle’s Lorent Tolaj, and subsequently paying £5 million for Leyton Orient’s Dom Ballard.
Any sale from Peterborough would see them hand a hefty chunk of that price back to Blackburn, who currently hold a 30% sell-on clause for their academy graduate.
Posh Hold Strong Position
After a successful debut campaign and a strong start to his sophomore season at Peterborough United, Harry Leonard is starting to catch the attention of some other sides before the window shuts.
However, clubs will now have to tackle a £4 million price tag if they wish to advance their interest, setting a firm position that they will not undersell their prized possession and matching the going rate of many of League One’s top forwards.
With such little time in the window left, and with a strong hand to play given the contract length, it does feel unlikely that Posh would even consider a sale this late in the window.
Whether any sides come to the fore before Tuesday night remains to be seen, but this latest revelation does give some sides a good benchmark for future negotiations further down the line, with that figure likely to rise further if Leonard continues to improve.
