Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson revealed the club had agreed a deal to sell Emmanuel Fernandez to an unnamed Championship club following a 3-1 defeat by relegation rivals Bristol Rovers.
Ferguson dropped the transfer bombshell at the Memorial Stadium but also revealed the defender’s representatives had been unable to agree personal terms despite a “huge” fee being agreed for the player, who would return on loan for the rest of the season.
“The club have accepted a bid for Manny, a huge bid I think, from a Championship club but at the moment he can’t agree personal terms,” Ferguson told reporters.
“We’ve accepted what is a lot of money for a player who’s played just four or five months of football but that’s what we do, we develop players.
“He would come back to us on loan. It’s all been agreed but his representatives can’t agree personal terms. I don’t know if the situation will change and I’m not getting involved.”
The 23-year-old, whose contract expires in 2027, did not make the trip to the West Country due to concussion protocols and his absence told.
Goals from James Wilson, Isaac Hutchinson and Ruel Sotiriou put Rovers in command and Ricky-Jade Jones grabbed a late consolation goal before Ferguson issued a relegation rallying call.
“The bottom line is that the table doesn’t lie,” he said. “We are miles away, we haven’t been good enough.
“We are now in a position where we’ve got a real fight on our hands over the last 16 games to make sure we stay up.
“That’s the reality and the players have to make sure that’s all they concentrate on because we’re talking serious things here.
“We’re talking people’s livelihoods and people losing jobs. This club can’t afford to be in League Two.
“It would be foolish and naive of me not to mention it. I think we will have enough but we’ve got to show more, particularly with our away form. We just make it too easy.”
Rovers manager Inigo Calderon said: “I feel relief more than enjoyment because the boys have been working so hard.
“I thought we were the better side but you have to show that and stay in the game whatever happens, but today was quite a good performance.
“We defended better and played with lots of desire and we had good spells with the ball, which is what I want to see.
“I was really pleased with the passion the players showed but I didn’t really like what I saw towards the end, when we were flicking the ball around when we thought it was done in the last five minutes.
“They played with less weight on their shoulders but overall I’m happy, especially because our work on set-pieces paid off.
“I’m told we are now six points above the relegation zone but I didn’t check the results from yesterday because I don’t care. We are have to focus on ourselves and making ourselves better, so I don’t waste time looking at the table.”
