CHERRIES target Siriki Dembele has turned down the opportunity to join Birmingham City – with Barry Fry stating that the striker prefers a move to Cherries.

Previously, Posh’s director of football Fry told local press that Cherries had made two bids for the forward, with the former Peterborough chairman stating: “We had a bid from Bournemouth which we turned down immediately and the day after that we had another bid which we also rejected.”

Whilst the value of Birmingham’ bid is unknown, the Peterborough Telegraph reported that Cherries offered £1m initially, before upping their offer to £1.5m with a second bid.

Fry confirmed to the Peterborough Telegraph that Birmingham City’s bid was bigger than Cherries’, saying: “Birmingham got much closer with their offer to what we want, but when I told Siriki about it he turned his nose up.

“He probably prefers Bournemouth, but there’s no way he’s going there for what they’ve offered.

“The owners have carried our club financially for two years with hardly any income and yet they, like me and the manager, would rather Siriki stayed and helped us stay up.”

Dembele’s contract with the Cambridgeshire club expires in the summer, with Posh believing Dembele is worth retaining in order to boost their chances of survival.

Reports state that Peterborough are looking to be compensated with around £4m for the striker, despite clubs being able to sign him on a free transfer from February 1.

Fry’s other comments to the Telegraph state that any deal for Dembele would have to be done before the transfer deadline, stating: “There is no way we will sell him on transfer deadline day.

“Because that would give us no time to sign a replacement.”