Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony has outlined his transfer stance on the sale of star striker Ivan Toney which netted Newcastle United a healthy sell-on fee.
Toney joined the Magpies in the summer of 2015, but made just two senior appearances in black-and-white before being sold to the Posh three years later.
The striker thrived at London Road, and won League One's Golden Boot last season before being earmarked as Ollie Watkins' replacement at Brentford.
However, MacAnthony has outlined how he refused to accept a "pandemic discount" for Toney despite the uncertainty of the transfer market.
Brentford eventually agreed a deal reportedly in the region of £10m, a transfer which earned the Magpies an estimated £3m in a sell-on clause.
MacAnthony told BBC 5 Live Sport: "I remember in May or June and we were all on the phone. The manager, Barry [Fry], they were all asking has Ivan Toney's value depreciated with the pandemic? What are we going to do?
"I was pretty cool about it, and said to everyone relax, there aren't many strikers like that and the one club that wants him are going to come back.
"My first words when they phone will be there's no pandemic discount. When Rasmus [Ankersen] rang me from Brentford, he was talking about life for 20 minutes. I said listen, I've got to go and he said about Ivan Toney...
"I said before you say anything, there's no pandemic discount. When you go to sell Ollie Watkins, is there going to be a pandemic discount? He said no, so I said there's none for you.
"He asked what do I want, and I said I told you what I wanted in January and it's gone up. He's just won the Golden Boot because the season was ended early, so he's gone up in value.
"In the end, we were very fortunate to do that deal. We'd done our business right previously to the pandemic, so we were in a good position."
The sale of Toney has helped Peterborough cope with the ongoing ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic which has forced EFL clubs to begin the season behind closed doors.
MacAnthony admits the Posh are 'fortunate' to be in the financial position they are in, and fired a warning on the health of rival EFL clubs going forward.
He added: "We're very fortunate we can sell one or two players and we can go on through this. But I'm telling your right now, my co-owners of clubs are not as fortunate as me.
"That's not me bragging, that's genuine concern. I don't need to be on here saying this, that's the truth."
