Rob Davies
There are few things you can always rely on in football, Barry Fry sharing too much information being one of those.
The Peterborough United director of football has spoken today about Swans goalkeeper Steven Benda who spent the latter part of last season on loan with the Posh and they are keen to make him a permanent addition.
Initially Fry said that Swansea’s asking price for Benda was £1m or the potential for a swap with a Peterborough player who was of interest.
Speaking last week to Peterborough Today, Fry said: “I spoke to Steven as he is still in Peterborough.
“He would love to join us, but we are not getting anywhere with Swansea.
“They wanted £1m and there’s no way we’re paying that for a goalkeeper.
“Russell Martin then suggested an exchange of two of his players, including Steven, for one of ours, but that’s not going to happen.”
Today things have changed with the asking price for the German goalkeeper reduced to £500k in the space of a week but that’s still not enough to persuade the Posh to buy
They did want a million for Steven, but now it’s £500k,” Fry told the Peterborough Telegraph.
“We’re still not going there. It’s a lot of money for a League One goalkeeper and there’s the issue of wages for a player who still has two years on his Swansea contract to run.
“He is earning far more than we could pay him.
“We have other targets and we have made very progress on a couple of players.”
It’s a real concern if we are happy to have halved the price for a player within the space of a week and suggests things are getting a little desperate very early into the transfer window.
Secondly, the club should walk away from discussions with Fry as it’s clear that they are looking to get the player far cheaper than his worth even when the price was dropped by half.
Finally, Fry’s words sends a clear message to all and sundry around the club’s stance on selling players and makes their bargaining power that much stronger when it comes to deals involving Flynn Downes and Joel Piroe.
