Preston North End confirm new deal for 31-year-old after West Brom and Wrexham links

Preston North End striker Will Keane has extended his contract at Deepdale until 2026.

The Lilywhites brought the forward back to the club, for a second spell, last summer. He top scored, with 13 goals in the Championship, as North End finished 10th in 2023/24. In the last couple of weeks, transfer speculation had bubbled away - with West Brom seeing a low offer rejected for the number seven.

Wrexham, Derby County and Cardiff City were all then credited with late interest in the front man. However, Keane - who scored in last weekend’s win over Luton Town - has now committed his future to PNE. Manager Paul Heckingbottom didn’t want to lose him and all parties are pleased to get a deal done.

Keane told in-house media: “I’m absolutely delighted. Discussions have been ongoing for a while, so to get it over the line is really pleasing. I’m really pleased to extend my stay and hopefully I can just crack on and keep contributing to the team.

“I’ve really enjoyed my time here and was really keen to extend that and keep progressing. We’ve had a really good lift with the new manager coming in and there’s a great buzz about the place. Hopefully we’ll keep improving, keep progressing, and I want to be part of that.”

Heckingbottom added: “Conversations have been bubbling on in the past and my opinion is that he’s an important part of the squad. I don’t see that changing in the next 12 months. Will wants to stay. He doesn’t want to leave and he’s really happy here.

“So, I think it’s a really good bit of business - firstly to get him in initially and then to keep him here a little bit longer. I know about all the speculation, but this has been ongoing anyway - so we’ve always been relaxed because we’ve known what outcome we all want.”