Peterborough United Summer Transfer Window Rated

The transfer window is finally shut! 

Photo Credit : Joe Dent / Peterborough United

After months of speculation, frustration and negotiation, Peterborough United’s 2025/26 squad is complete (at least until January). 

I will be rating our transfer business in each department /10, before giving an overall score. 

Goalkeepers 

In: Bass, Reyes (loan)

Out: Steer 

The goalkeeper position has been a contentious one since Posh dropped into League One in 2022. 

Short term options such as Lucas Bergstrom and Will Norris failed, and the young goalkeepers that the club have invested time into such as Nicholas Bilokapic and Will Blackmore have failed to kick on.

Throw the unexciting steady hand of Jed Steer into the mix, and you will find a great deal of dissatisfaction from Posh fans towards their number one goalkeepers recently.

Finally though, Posh fans’ prayers have been answered, as it seems that Darragh MacAnthony has splashed the cash on a proper goalkeeper. Without heaping undue pressure onto Alex Bass, he looks an inspired addition. 

At 27, he is an excellent age for a goalkeeper, and could wear the number one shirt for Posh for years to come. 

Bass arrives at Posh with a great deal of pedigree, being widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in League Two for the last two seasons. 

It was incredibly frustrating news for Posh to then find out that their new stopper would be injured for the beginning of the season. However, the club moved proactively and got in Vicente Reyes. 

He has been quietly impressive since his signing, looking especially accomplished with the ball at his feet. 

The only concerns surrounding this position are the outgoings, or lack of. 

Nicholas Bilokapic and Will Blackmore have been transfer-listed for weeks, yet the club have been unable to shift them. 

We now have at least four senior goalkeepers, simply way too many. 

The fact that we have struggled so hard to ship players out, probably is indicative of how poorly managed this position has been in recent times.

Overall though, I am delighted with the business we have done in this area, and I genuinely do not believe we could have done much better.

I cannot blame the club for the injury to Alex Bass, and we responded admirably. 

After years of it causing problems, I finally feel that we have cracked the ‘keeper code. 

Charlie’s rating: 9/10

Defenders

In: Hughes, Okagbue, Lees, Kioso (loan), O’Connor (loan), Mendy (loan)

Out: Katongo, Edun, Sparkes, Fernandez

Everything in the way in which Posh have recruited late in the transfer window suggests that we are switching from four to three/five at the back. 

We now have a much larger pool of central defenders than would be required in a back four. 

In terms of outgoings, it was to no disappointment from me that hot-headed left-back Tayo Edun did not sign a new deal at Posh. Jack Sparkes has been a massive failure, and it was good to get his wages off the bill. 

Selling Emmanuel Fernandez to Rangers for a reported fee of £3m+ is some of MacAnthony and Fry’s best work. 

An absolutely extortionate fee for someone who, right now, would probably be our sixth-choice central defender.

I am also happy with the defenders we have recruited. 

Getting Sam Hughes back was huge following his impact on loan last summer - he is the proper club captain we have been needing for a while. 

David Okagbue has significant potential, and I am confident he will come good one day. 

Deals for Lees, O’Connor and Mendy seem sensible. All of them are vastly experienced, and know what it takes to have success in the EFL.

Peter Kioso is the standout defensive addition though. 

We all fell in love with him in his first spell at the club, and his energy and leadership is exactly what this team needs. 

He is strong both offensively and defensively, and is an absolutely brilliant capture. 

Throw into the mix a new contract for ‘star-boy’ Harley Mills, and Posh have done very well in sorting out their defence. 

Where it was a problem area last season, I don’t see that being the case as much this term. 

A definite improvement. 

Charlie’s rating: 7.5/10

Midfielders 

In: Khela, Lolos, Garbett, Woods

Out: Kyprianou, Susoho 

Last season, the midfield was often dominated, and so needed a significant overhaul. Darragh MacAnthony has delivered that in style. 

The only outgoing was want-away club captain Hector Kyprianou who, based on last season’s performances, is no great loss, although not getting a fee for him was frustrating.

In his place, Posh have signed four young and hungry central midfielders who all look very promising. 

Brandon Khela has an incredible engine and, while he has probably been overplayed slightly so far, has a massive future at Posh as a box-to-box midfielder and likely future captain. 

Klaidi Lolos needs to get up to speed, however has clear quality and great close control which makes him a fantastic option in the number ten position, particularly against a compact defence.

Matthew Garbett already has me scratching my head as to how we have signed him. 

He looks a cut-above already, physically fantastic and technically excellent. 

His Posh career will not be long, however it may be very profitable for the club! 

Ben Woods seemed to be the priority midfield target to replace Archie Collins eventually. 

He is yet to feature however was quality in League Two last season, and is exactly the kind of player Posh should be signing. 

To hold on to Collins too, even if he will now likely leave on a free transfer next summer, leaves the midfield in a very strong position. 

Again, the inability to shift Ryan De Havilland is frustrating, however it does not damage the business we have done in this area. 

The midfield overhaul seems complete for a while now. 

Simply fantastic business.

Charlie’s rating: 9/10

Forwards

In: Frith, Lisbie, Morgan (loan), Leonard

Out: Jones, Poku, Mothersille, Ihionvien (loan)

Posh are typically known for their fantastic attack, particularly when playing in League One. 

This season however, it has been our biggest problem area. A lot of this is down to poor recruitment. 

After the exits of Poku, Jones and Mothersille, undoubtedly Posh’s best three attackers last season, we needed some serious calibre to replace them. 

Declan Frith seems a good player, and it is unlucky that injuries have disrupted the start of his Posh career. Cian Hayes has a lot of improving to do, but  is a good impact sub and a credible back-up. 

Sadly, the faith put in Abraham Odoh to only bring in one very raw left-sided winger in Lisbie has proven to be a costly mistake, as Posh have lacked that cutting edge when going forward.

Posh began pre-season with Bradley Ihionvien on the transfer list. He started well, so he was removed from the list and given the number nine shirt. He then played a few games, didn’t perform, was thrown back on the list and loaned out to League Two. Shambolic. 

The striker situation was slightly salvaged by some deadline day deals. 

MacAnthony bizarrely broke his vow against loaning strikers with a move for Chelsea youngster JJ Morgan, which screamed desperation. 

The big news up front was the arrival of Harry Leonard, who has signed a long-term deal to lead the line for Posh. He will hopefully be a big improvement on what we’ve seen so far. 

Promising signings aside, nothing changes the fact that we played six league games with inadequate forward options, and scored just one goal from open play as a result. 

Also, allowing an academy graduate to leave on a free transfer, receiving no compensation, and then torpedoing his legacy with snarky tweets and pass-agg comments was a notable low point of the summer. 

Ricky-Jade Jones has earned a fantastic move, and will hopefully put the Posh academy on the map.

Kwame Poku saved us by turning down one Rangers for another, earning the club nearly a million in transfer fee. 

The transfer business in forward areas has been disappointing. 

• Outgoings were managed without decorum, making us look desperate. 

• Incomings came too late, and the personnel with which we started the season was unacceptable. 

For a club who usually pride ourselves in our transfer business in forward areas, we have really let ourselves down here. 

Charlie’s rating: 3/10

Summary

Peterborough United’s 2025 summer transfer business is really difficult to rate. 

A whopping 16 signings came in the door. 

There are two questions that need to be answered to rate the business this summer. 

Firstly: Have we improved the squad? 

Posh finished 18th last season, and the squad was in dire need of repair, particularly in defence. The defence this season looks immeasurably stronger. We also have a quality goalkeeper, and real strength in depth in midfield. 

The forward area has taken a hit, as has been evidenced by the early games of the season. We lack the creativity that quality operators like Kwame Poku and Malik Mothersille provided us. 

Overall though, we have much more experience and stability within the squad, and the depth has certainly increased as well. 

A definite improvement. 

My only concern is the struggle we have faced to get players out - our squad is now way too big. 

I think that can be attributed to the poor recruitment of previous windows signing these players though, and not the efforts to get rid this summer.

The second question is: Have we had a coherent strategy? 

This is where this transfer window really stumbles down for me. I really struggle to believe that we have had a coherent plan this transfer window. 

We began recruiting for a 4-2-3-1 with wingers, which is what we have played for the last few seasons, with varying degrees of success (although that has usually been more down to individuals than the system).

After realising that we could not find a good number ten in the market, we pivoted towards a 4-3-3, recruiting several central midfielders to play that system. 

Then following Fergie realising that the wingers were, for the most part, rubbish, he has now seemed to pivot again, recruiting extra centre-backs and wing-backs late in the window. It now seems that Posh will adopt a 3-5-2, throwing the system of wingers out entirely.

These changes in tactics are not the hallmarks of an organised and well thought out transfer window, and although I actually think we have ended up with a pretty good squad to play 3-5-2 in the end, the approach still has to be labelled as chaotic. 

In addition to these systematic changes, I have also found MacAnthony to have been slightly inconsistent in messaging this summer. 

Take loan signings for example. MacAnthony told UpThePoshcast that, following recent years, he was done with loans and would avoid them as much as possible. We have signed FIVE loan players, including a striker which is a position which DMAC has always been against loaning in!

The window has seemed very disorganised at times, and I do think we have wasted significant time and money. 

Dramatic right until the last minute, it has been a fun transfer window. Let’s hope the results can pick up now that the outside now has hushed. 

Charlie’s rating: 6/10