‘I’d love my club’ - chairman wants Liverpool to sign £8m-plus England defender

Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony has revealed he’d love if Liverpool swooped for highly-rated defender Ronnie Edwards.

The 20-year-old has made 34 appearances for the Posh in their League One play-off push this season. He also featured 32 times in the Championship last term.

Perhaps more impressively, Edwards helped England under-19s to European Championships glory last season - starting the 3-1 win over Israel in the final - and is now a member of the under-20 squad.

MacAnthony has previously revealed that Peterborough turned down an £8 million bid for Edwards in the summer transfer window. Both Chelsea and Crystal Palace were linked.

And being a self-confessed Liverpool fan, the Posh co-owner would relish if Jurgen Klopp’s side tried to sign the former Barnet centre-half.

Speaking on the his podcastThe Hard Truth, MacAnthony said: “If you look at the [England under-20] squad, I think there is three from the Championship like [Bristol City’s] Alex Scott, players of that ilk worth £20-25 million and then you see Arsenal, Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea - 90% of the squad is top-five Prem. Then you see that one Peterborough United player and there’s a bit of pride in there that he’d playing at that level.

“He didn’t play in the first game, played 90 minutes in the second game, the manager rates him. We had the under-21s watching him a few weeks ago. Lee Carsley came to watch him.

“Ronnie is now playing left-sided centre-half and those things are a premium for any centre-half who can play there without a natural left foot. I’m proud of him, he’s going to have a magnificent career. I’d love my club in the Prem to buy him and he’s going to go away with the under-20s, they’ve got a World Cup coming up.

“Like Ivan [Toney] it’s going to be great watching that kid do what he’s going to do in the game.”