On deadline day of the 2024 January transfer window, Coventry City and Peterborough United agreed a deal that would see star winger Ephron Mason-Clark join City on a permanent deal, with Mason-Clark being loaned straight back to Peterborough.
The 24-year-old has been one of the most electric players in League One this season, providing 10 goals and five assists in just 29 games. This basically replicates his total output from the 2022/23 league campaign, where he registered nine goals and six assists.
Coventry announced the signing, and added that the fee that they had paid was an “undisclosed” one. But new details have emerged which provide a better picture of just how much the Skyblues paid for Mason-Clark.
Coventry paid more than £3.5 million for Ephron Mason-Clark
The initial reports from the Peterborough Telegraph suggested that a mammoth fee was paid by Coventry to the Posh. They said that the club received “an initial fee in excess of £5 million,” which included “a £750,000” reduction in order to keep the player until the summer via a loan.
However, the Coventry Telegraph reported that the actual fee paid by the club was £4.25 million, with the £750,000 coming off Peterborough’s original asking price of £5 million.
The Posh’s owner and Chairman, Darrach MacAnthony, has clarified the situation on his own podcast: the ‘Hard Truth’ podcast.
He said “There was a lot of stress with the Ephron deal. We went backwards and forwards all day and I had seven hours on a plane with no Wi-Fi.
“We offered them two scenarios. A bigger fee, which meant they could have Ephron straight away, or a smaller fee if they sent him back on loan. We had replacements in mind for Ephron, but we couldn’t get them so the loan deal became a must for us.
