Coventry City’s chances of signing Peterborough United’s Harrison Burrows have taken a twist with the news that favourites to secure his services, Sheffield United, are closing in on a Sam McCallum.
The Sky Blues have been reported to be keen on Posh’s 22-year-old left-back and skipper since Doug King did the £4.25m deal to buy Ephron Mason-Clark in January, at which point his opposite number at the London Road club, Darragh MacAnthony, revealed that City are interested in a number of Peterborough’s players.
In his podcast, The Hard Truth, the out-spoken chairman gave a fascinating insight into the negotiating process between himself and City owner King’s “relentless” pursuit of Mason-Clark. The 47-year-old Irish entrepreneur said: “Doug asked for an option on one of my other players as well, because they like quite a few of our players.”
It has been reported by the Peterborough Telegraph that the “smart money” is on Burrows and/or defensive midfielder Hector Kyprianou. Football writer for the newspaper, Alan Swann, has since reported that Burrows has agreed personal terms with the Blades following claims of a medical at the back end of last week.
However, it is being reported by The Sun’s Alan Nixon, who has stated via his Patreon page that the Blades are keen on former Sky Blues left-back/wing-back McCallum to Bramall Lane.
United’s transfer dealings are delicate at present, with a pending takeover leaving things in flux, with the club understood to be unable to commit funds for new signings until it goes through. But Nixon claims that McCallum could be an exception as he wouldn’t incur a transfer fee.
Coventry sold McCallum to Norwich in January 2020 but he’s now free to leave Carrow Road ahead of the 2024-25 season, having decided not to sign a new contract and end his four-and-a-half-year stay at the club.
It begs the question as to whether United have switched their attention away from Burrows, or whether they want both to compete for the left-sided defensive berth next season. Certainly, if the former is the case then City’s hopes of getting Burrows might just have improved.
