Peterborough owner Darragh MacAnthony reveals how he landed former Portsmouth ace Nathan Thompson - and at a discount rate

Darragh MacAnthony has revealed how Peterborough signed former Pompey defender Nathan Thompson for a ‘good home discount’ in August 2019.
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The Posh owner said he was instantly interested in bringing a player who he regards as the best right-back in the league to London Road – after initially missing out on his signature when the defender left Swindon for the Blues in 2017.

Yet speaking in the latest episode of his The Hard Truth podcast, MacAnthony made it clear straightaway that free-agent Thompson couldn’t expect the sort of money they offered him two years previous ahead of his decision to join Pompey.

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Thompson found himself without a club near the end of the 2019 summer transfer window after opting to let his Fratton Park contract expire.

Former Pompey defender Nathan ThompsonFormer Pompey defender Nathan Thompson
Former Pompey defender Nathan Thompson

The defender was keen to try his luck in the Championship – but failed to secure such a move, despite having a trial with Bristol City.

He returned to Fratton Park to keep his fitness up, leading many to speculate that he would re-join Kenny Jackett’s side.

MacAnthony said he was also led to believe that would happen.

Yet it didn’t, handing Peterborough the chance to step in.

Nathan Thompson, right, in action against Pompey last season.Nathan Thompson, right, in action against Pompey last season.
Nathan Thompson, right, in action against Pompey last season.
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Since then, Thompson has proven a key player for manager Darren Ferguson, becoming the Posh’s vice-captain and making 31 appearances to date.

The 30-year-old is currently out injured.

But MacAnthony believes, when fit, Thompson is a standout performer at League One level, while Peterborough are ‘as good as anyone’ with the right-back in their side.

Not a bad bit of business, then, by the Peterborough owner, who got his man despite a pay cut.

Explaining how the move materialised, MacAnthony said: ‘It was a couple of summers ago, late in the window.

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‘We tried to sign Nathan before he actually went to Portsmouth.

‘I want to say he was at Swindon before that, but we couldn't get to his wages and obviously he chose Portsmouth over Peterborough at the time - look, Portsmouth is a bigger football club than our football club so it’s always very difficult to compete with clubs like that when you are trying to sign players.

‘Then it was late in the window and Nathan had been released or he was still, I want to say he was promised a Championship move and he was training with a Championship club (Bristol) and what happened was he never ended up getting a contract and then he thought he was going back to Portsmouth – and that didn't happen.

‘I know his agent really well, so his agent rang up and said: "Look, Nathan Thompson", and I said "f*****g yeah, we'll do a two-year deal", but we haven't got the money we had before, so we got him on a good home discount.

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‘And to be fair to Thommo, when he's fit, there's no better player in his position in the league.

‘He's brilliant in the dressing room, he's our vice-captain and one of the great things this season is, when he's been fit, he's played nine-10 games in a row, we've been as good as anybody – and he was missing on Saturday (for the 2-0 defeat at Crewe).

‘I think he's missing for three games because, unfortunately, he’s just turned 30, he's got a body or whatever that makes him a little bit prone to issues and injuries, hence his record.

‘So if we can keep Nathan fit, he is such an asset to the football club.

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‘He's out of contract at the end of this year and we would love to extend his contract because he's such a good addition.’

Thompson made 78 appearances during his two-year spell at Fratton Park.

Jackett signed James Bolton from Shrewsbury following the defender’s exit but summer arrival Callum Johnson is now considered Pompey’s first-choice right-back.

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