PNE boss prepared for twists and turns in transfer window

Preston have already confirmed a deal for Motherwell striker Louis Moult, who will arrive at Deepdale on January 1.

Now it is understood they want to get around three more deals over the line as they look to push on in the second half of the season.

Ideally, like Moult, players will arrive early in the New Year but Neil is also ready for the twists and turns that come with any window.

PNE received plenty of interest in their emerging squad before the last one shut in August with nine-goal striker Jordan Hugill already a reported target for Bristol City.

“There have been discussions on-going about a variety of different things we’re trying to do,” said Neil, whose side host Nottingham Forest at Deepdale today.

“We want to get our work done as early as we can. We don’t want to hang on until the end of the window.

“However as the window winds down or ramps up, whichever way you want to put it, players become available that maybe weren’t available at the start of the window.

“People maybe become interested in your players when they weren’t at the start of the window.

“Money starts flying about, and you wonder where it’s come from.

“There’s a whole host of things that can happen in the window.

“I’ve had a number of them now that I’ve been involved in whether it be purchases coming in or big sales going out. I know everything that’s likely to happen.”

Work has been on-going for months to identify targets with Neil giving an insight into the amount of ground covered by his staff and the PNE hierarchy whose job it is to get deals over the line.

“Although the window doesn’t open until January it’s been an on-going process,” the PNE boss said.

“Every selection of games that are on when we’re not playing, me and all the members of my coaching staff are out watching different games.

“We’ll cover four matches. If there’s a Tuesday night card or there’s a Sunday card then we’ll have four games covered that day.

“We’ve obviously got our scouts for us as well that are sending back reports and from that we can draw up our target list.

“I’m always talking to people about plans.

“We’ll be talking about the transfer window, we’ll be talking about improvements we need to make, we’ll be talking about guys that maybe need to get out to get games.

“That’s an ever-evolving discussion that happens on a daily basis.”