Peterborough United confirm Oliver Norburn was expected to join Blackpool in the summer

Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony disclosed an £800k fee had been agreed with an unnamed club in his weekly 'Hard Truth' podcast which was widely believed to be the Seasiders as they had tried to sign Norburn in January.

Norburn has undergone an operation on his anterior cruciate ligament and faces nine months on the sidelines.

Speaking to our sister paper the Peterborough Telegraph, Fry said: "We had a gentleman's agreement with Oliver to let him go in the summer as long as Blackpool matched the fee we had rejected from them in January.

"We turned down two bids, but they didn't go as high as £800k. That was how much it would have cost them if all the attached add-ons had been met.

"We kept Oliver in January because the manager (then Darren Ferguson) felt he needed him to help us stay up. Oliver was keen to go to be nearer his family which we understood and why we made an agreement with him.

"A knee ligament injury is never nice, but it's particularly horrible timing for Oliver as he won't play for anyone for a long time and clubs that did want him will presumably look elsewhere.

"It's not great for us either. Ollie playing on an artificial pitch in a friendly international has cost everyone."

Norburn has made 38 appearances since joining Posh from Shrewsbury last August for a reported fee of £350k.