COLCHESTER United defender Frankie Kent has completed his move to Peterborough United - and believes it is the right move at the right stage of his career.

The 23-year-old has agreed a three-year deal, for an undisclosed fee, and become his new club's eighth summer signing.

He put pen to paper and signed his contract on Saturday morning.

“I spoke to the manager on Wednesday and had a chat with my family, but I knew my decision and I'm really pleased to be here," Kent told the Posh website.

"I feel this is the right move for me at this stage in my career.

“I really enjoyed my time at Colchester, met some great people there and have played a lot of games in League Two.

"This is the next step and I'm looking forward to hopefully a promotion push with Peterborough.

"The way the manager likes to play suits me down to the ground and I'm looking forward to developing here as a player.

“It was important for me to get the deal done before the lads come back for pre-season and I can now meet them and get to know them on the first day.

"It's a really good opportunity for me here and I'm looking forward to getting started."

Kent was part of the Arsenal Academy until the age of 16 before joining the U’s, where he has made 134 starts.

He made his debut for the club as an 18-year-old, was young player-of-the-year in 2015/16 and official player-of-the-year in 2018/19.

Posh manager Darren Ferguson was pleased to get the deal over the line and is looking forward to working with his newest recruit.

“I'm delighted," he told his club's website.

"We found out last night that Frankie had agreed to join us and I'm really excited to get this deal over the line.

"It was a position we were looking to fill and he has been on the radar since the end of last season.

“Colchester have been superb to deal with and it is another part of the jigsaw.

"Frankie has played a lot of games for his age.

"He has been a captain there.

"He is a leader for his age, has loads of potential, is a good size and we see him as right-sided centre-back.

"He has good balance, is good with the ball at his feet and when I met him, I could see how eager he was to join and that was great because there were a lot of clubs in for him.

“It is a big one for us.

"We have done our recruitment very well in this close season and we're looking forward to working with them when they come back for pre-season on Monday.

"I'm really pleased with how things have gone so far."

Former U's team-mate Sammie Szmodics has also been heavily linked with a move to Peterborough.

Last week it was reported that Colchester had accepted a bid from the League One club.

Szmodics, who is due to see his existing deal expire this summer, has already been heavily linked with a move to Championship club Bristol City.