Peterborough United announce somewhat surprising Jonson Clarke-Harris news | OneFootball

Peterborough United have transfer listed a number of first-team players, including star striker Jonson Clarke-Harris.

Posh are preparing for another season in League One after their dramatic play-off semi-final defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.

After a 4-0 defeat in the first leg at the Weston Homes Stadium, the Owls staged a remarkable comeback with a 5-1 win after extra time in the second leg at Hillsborough before winning 5-3 on penalties as Peterborough missed out on a place in the final at Wembley.

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Manager Darren Ferguson returned to the club for a fourth spell in January and after winning 14 and drawing three of his 24 games in charge, he signed a new three-year deal yesterday.

Ferguson, who was won promotion from League One on three previous occasions with Posh, is now beginning his summer rebuild as he looks to mount another promotion challenge in the third tier next season, and he has made a number of his squad available for transfer.

The most surprising name on the list is striker Clarke-Harris, who is the club's captain and top scorer with 29 goals in 54 appearances in all competitions this campaign.

Clarke-Harris still has a year remaining on his contract with Posh, but has previously attracted Championship transfer interest from Watford and Sunderland.

Despite being made available, it is unlikely owner Darragh MacAnthony will allow Clarke-Harris to depart without receiving a significant transfer fee and Ferguson suggested in January that it would take £5 million for the club to consider selling.

Defender Frankie Kent and midfielder Oliver Norburn, who both played key roles in the club's play-off push in recent months, have also been transfer listed, along with Josh Knight, Dan Butler, Jeando Fuchs, Ben Thompson, Joe Tomlinson and Christy Pym.

Nathan Thompson and Benjamin Mensah will leave the club at the end of their contracts, but Joe Ward has been offered a new three-year deal.

Loanees Will Norris, Kell Watts and Nathanael Ogbeta have returned to their parent clubs.

Ferguson hinted that big changes could be coming at the club after signing his new deal, revealing that he believes "a complete refresh" is needed.

"In football, you have cycles and there are a lot of players that have done really well for this club, won promotion, got the club to the play-offs, but a lot have been here a long time, and it is time for a change for us and for them. That needs to happen. The players understand that," Ferguson told the club's official website.

"It was pivotal here that we had a complete refresh, a complete retool. This is a really exciting challenge and pivotal to me staying, we had to go young and freshen everything up. I felt the chairman would go with it, and he did."

Have Peterborough United made the right decision with Clarke-Harris?

While it is not a shock to see the likes of Knight, Butler and Fuchs transfer listed given their lack of game time, few would have expected Clarke-Harris, Kent and Norburn to be made available.

Clarke-Harris in particular will likely have no shortage of suitors, and he would be more than capable doing the job in the Championship after scoring 12 goals for Posh as they were relegated last season.

It seems likely that the decision could have been made in order to bring in funds to allow Ferguson to rebuild his squad as Clarke-Harris is the best striker in the division and the club would surely want to keep him.

But as Ferguson says, many of the current squad were at the club during their previous promotion campaign in the 2020-21 season, and he is right to say that there needs to be evolution.

The club have proven they are able to identify exciting talent, with winger Ephron Mason-Clark the latest example, and it would be no surprise to see them do the same again this summer.