Manager Matt Taylor on why Exeter City's Archie Collins didn't move to Rotherham United and went to Peterborough United instead

BOSS Matt Taylor has revealed how Rotherham United missed out on making coveted midfielder Archie Collins one of their summer signings.

The manager knows the player well from their time together at Exeter City and confirmed to the Advertiser that he had been a target of the Championship Millers.

However, the 23-year-old, who was wanted by a number of clubs, joined League One Peterborough United last week.

“In terms of where we are financially we couldn't quite get to what was needed to get that deal over the line,” Taylor said.

Peterborough had money to spend after selling Jack Taylor to Ipswich Town for around £1.5 million.

The exact figure Posh have paid for Collins is unconfirmed but their chairman, Darragh MacAnthony, described it as a “big six-figure fee”.

The midfield man was at the end of his contract at Exeter and, because he is under 24 and the Grecians had offered him a new deal, a tribunal would have decided his worth had the two clubs not come to an agreement themselves.

Taylor said: “I watched him grow up from a young age and he's a player I admire. I'd have liked to have seen him go to a Championship club because that's where I feel his level is.”