Ronnie Edwards: Peterborough confirm Chelsea interest in defender | OneFootball

Peterborough United director Barry Fry has confirmed Chelsea are interested in young defender Ronnie Edwards.

The Blues have been aggressive in their pursuit of young talents this summer, spending £20m on Carney Chukwuemeka - a team-mate of Edwards' for the England Under-19s - as well as snapping up Omari Hutchinson from Arsenal and Eddie Beach from Southampton.

Inter midfielder Cesare Casadei and Palmeiras striker Endrick are both reported to be on the wish list as well, and Fry has now confirmed that Chelsea have thrown their hat in the ring for 19-year-old Edwards, who started 31 games in the Championship last season.

The Blues already have an open dialogue with Peterborough after sending young goalkeeper Lucas Bergstrom on loan to the Weston Homes Stadium, and it was during a check-up on the Finland native that Edwards caught the eye.

"I’ve had conversations with people at Chelsea who are in the know and who would be involved in any decision-making," Fry told the Peterborough Telegraph. "They came to watch Lucas, but they were taken by Ronnie. They haven’t made a bid yet, but there are three weeks until the transfer window closes. They certainly like him.

"Virtually the entire Premier League know about Ronnie and it’s interesting to see members of his England Under-19 team attracting attention now. Chelsea signed one last week and Southampton have just made a big bid for another of the players [Liam Delap]. I have had big clubs asking to be kept informed if anyone does bid for Ronnie.

"Our position on Ronnie remains the same. It’s going to have to be a big bid to get him and we would try and make sure he was sent straight back to us.

"We don’t want to break up what I believe is the strongest squad in terms of depth in my 26 years at the club. We’ve been turning bids down right, left and centre all summer."

Edwards shone alongside Chukwuemeka for during England Under-19s triumph at the Euros during the summer, in a squad which also featured Chelsea trio Teddy Sharman-Lowe, Harvey Vale and Bashir Humphreys.