Fulham have been dealt a blow to their chances of bringing Siriki Dembele to Craven Cottage this summer.

What's been said?

That's according to a claim made by Peterborough United director of football Barry Fry, who revealed in a recent interview with Transfer Tavern that he is unwilling to sell the centre-forward on the cheap in the summer transfer window.

A number of clubs, including Fulham, have been linked with a move for the 24-year-old this summer, with it previously being reported that a bid of £5m should be enough to begin negotiations with the Posh striker.

However, if Fry's latest comments are anything to go by, this would now appear to be an unrealistic outcome, with the 76-year-old stating:

"He's a talented boy and just because he's in his last year, people think we'll sell. We won't.

"We've got a better chance of retaining our Championship status with Jonson Clarke-Harris and Dembele in our side than not. It's got to be substantial figures for either of them or we'll just let Dembele go for nothing in a year.

"If he keeps us up, it's worth £15million to us. It's well worth it."

Silva surely gutted

Considering just how impressive Dembele was for Peterborough last season, the fact that a deal for the forward may not be attainable this summer is sure to have left Silva gutted.

Indeed, over his 42 League One appearances for Darren Ferguson's side last term, the £2.6k-per-week man scored 11 goals, registered 10 assists and created a whopping 17 big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.8 shots and making 1.5 key passes per game.

These returns saw the man Ferguson dubbed an "outstanding" player earn a seasonal Sofascore match rating of 7.06, ranking him as Peterborough's joint seventh-best player in the third tier of English football.

As such, it would very much appear as if Dembele would have made a fantastic addition to Silva's attacking arsenal at Craven Cottage this summer, although a deal this summer now seems to be incredibly unlikely.

However, with Fry suggesting that the 24-year-old could leave the Weston Homes Stadium for nothing in 12 months time, perhaps a season in the Championship will actually do the forward wonders in terms of his development, with Fulham potentially being able to land the more experienced hitman for free next summer.

In other news: Fulham dealt a blow as summer exit of backroom figure confirmed, Silva will be gutted