Peterborough United’s director of football Barry Fry has admitted that the Championship outfit are yet to pay West Ham United a penny for one-time Premier League 2 star Kai Corbett, speaking to the Peterborough Telegraph.
When explaining his decision to swap the London Stadium for London Road recently, 19-year-old Corbett appeared to be in no doubt that Peterborough represents ‘the best step in my career’.
And while Darren Ferguson’s side are mired in the Championship relegation zone, four points adrift of safety and winless in their last six league games, we can understand where he is coming from.
Britt Assombalonga, Ivan Toney, Jack Marriott and Dwight Gayle are just four players who made a name for themselves in Peterborough colours, rewarded with a substantial step up the footballing pyramid after scoring goals for fun in Cambridgeshire.
There is no reason to believe that Corbett, one of the most exciting youngsters in West Ham’s feted academy until very recently, cannot follow in Toney’s footsteps under a manager who can boast a proven track record when it comes to giving youngsters a chance.
“West Ham were entitled to charge £400 to 500,000 for Corbett because he’d been at the club for so long and they’d offered him a new contract,” explains Fry, who is understood to enjoy a positive relationship with Davids Gold and Sullivan at the London Stadium.
“But I did a deal through my relationship with their owners which means no money has changed hands yet.”
Corbett, who had trials at Wolves and Southampton before putting pen to paper on a long-term deal with Peterborough, made his Championship debut during Saturday’s goalless draw with fellow strugglers Barnsley.
The teenager never made a first-team appearance for West Ham.
But, given that David Moyes has handed senior debuts to the likes of Sonny Perkins and Dan Chesters recently, few would have been surprised to see Corbett get his chance in claret-and-blue eventually.
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