Why Peterborough United pay a 'tax' on transfer fees, why they missed out on a Premier League forward and there's a club that refuses to deal with Posh!

MacAnthony used Thursday’s edition of his ‘Hard Truth’ podcast to give examples and to reveal one club refuses to do business with Posh because of the fall-out from the time Covid interrupted the professional game!

MacAnthony said: “We once tried to buy an attacking player from Crystal Palace. He hadn’t played for them and they wanted to loan him out. We don’t loan strikers, but when Barry Fry made our approach he was quoted £400k-£500k. I get on really well with Palace chairman Steve Parrish so I jokingly texted him and asked whether or not I’d upset him.

"Steve rang me straight back and told me if I and Barry Fry were interested in a player then we need to ask for more money because you’d be selling him for millions in 2-3 years. They remembered what we’d done with Ivan Toney for instance so sometimes your success goes against you. I hold no grudges because Steve was doing what he thought best for his club. His thought process was the same as mine. I actually think it’s great that a Premier League chairman is willing to talk to a League One owner.

"It can be tough for us to get a player. We enquired early in the summer about the Bradford City goalkeeper (Harry Lewis) and I suspect because it was us the price went up. I bet we were quoted more than what they eventually sold him for. But the reality is we always make sure the selling club are looked after in terms of future sales. We look after them with profit from sell-ons, even Premier League clubs like Newcastle United when we sold Toney.

"I never bear a grudge though. There are people at clubs who I don’t get on with, like Dale Vince at Forest Green, but I would still do business with them.

"That’s not the case with some clubs and I had one like that recently. It was pathetic really. There’s a club who won’t do business with us because of disagreements around Covid time. I know this because when a former manager left that club he felt able to tell me, because he no longer worked there, through his agent.”