Gillingham’s outside chances of signing midfielder Ben Thompson are over.

Manager Neil Harris brought the former Millwall midfielder to Priestfield in January on a deal until the end of the 2021/22 season and was keen to make it more permanent but the Gills were unable to compete financially after Peterborough United opened negotiations.

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Thompson has signed a two-year deal with League 1 Peterborough United, completing the move on Tuesday morning.

Harris had stayed in close contact with Thompson throughout the summer but with a limited budget, the Gills weren’t realistically in the race.

On signing his new deal, Thompson said: “I really enjoyed my time at Millwall, I had some really good times there and it was great to get games under my belt at Gillingham in the second half of last season.”

Thompson, 26, moved to the Gills to work for Harris again, having been together at Millwall. The manager was a major factor in him signing, having agreed a termination of his Millwall contract. He signed at the end of the January transfer window and played 17 league games as an ever-present.

He had previously played on loan at Portsmouth but his only other club prior to joining Gillingham was Millwall.