"A fair few million" - Ronnie Edwards situation assessed amid Southampton interest in Peterborough United ace | OneFootball

Edwards is entering into the final year of his current Posh deal.

Highlights

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Peterborough United starlet Ronnie Edwards is the subject of interest from Southampton, according to reports.

The Athletic were the first to state that a team in the top flight was interested in signing the 21-year-old defender, although the identity of the club in question was not known.

It was then Alex Crook of talkSPORT who broke the news that it was the Saints who were interested in signing the England youth team international.

Edwards is approaching the final year of his current deal with Peterborough, but, even still, they are likely to demand a hefty fee for his services.

Ronnie Edwards destined for the Premier League

Football League World'sPosh fan pundit, Alex Batt, isn't sure whether the highly touted defender will depart in this window, but he believes that MacAnthony won't be pressured into selling for below market value because of his current contract situation,

"Ronnie is a weird one, because every time we have this conversation we say 'he's got to leave this summer', and yet he never has.

"Off the back of when he won the World Cup at youth level with England we thought he'd go, and then he didn't. Then the next year, after a year in the Championship, he didn't.

"I don't know what will happen. I think interest has cooled off on him recently. He's an unbelievable talent and it just seems like a move has just never quite materialised. Whether that's personal terms or the club holding out for too much, I don't know.

"He's a really good ball playing centre-back, a modern day centre-back. He should be in the Championship at least, and I assume he will play in the Premier League at some point.

"Will he go this summer? I don't know. Posh will hold out for as much money as they can and, if they don't sell, then they'll let him go for free next summer. But they won't be forced to sell if they don't think that the money is good enough.

"We've already lost Josh Knight. Whether we'd want to lose Edwards in the same window, I don't know.

"We'll still want a fair few million for him, even though he's into the final year of his contract. If that valuation is met, he will definitely go to a mid-table Championship team at a minimum.

"I'd like to see him have a go at a really established Championship club that are pushing to get into the Premier League. But there's no doubt that one day he will be in the top flight."

Ronnie Edwards is built for top-level football

If you still need convincing that the 21-year-old is a top prospect, and is rightfully being looked at by some of the country's best clubs, just watch him play.

He can do everything that a modern centre-back needs to be able to do. He can pass and win defensive duels. He's comfortable playing in a high line because he is mobile, plus he's used to playing in a progressive system because of his time at Posh.

The only thing that is glaring about his game is a lack of goals, which is still a very important part of the game for central defenders. Everything else is there.

For clubs like the Saints, who are making over £100 million from TV money alone, £4-5 million is worth it for someone of Edwards' potential quality.

They already have a top young central defender in Taylor Harwood-Bellis, which makes their supposed pursuit of the Posh man a bit odd.