Positive talks over new deals for Preston North End stars

Preston North End have had an encouraging first round of contract negotiations as they look to get some of the squad tied to longer deals.
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Talks were held with the representatives of a number of players last week and those will be ongoing over the next couple of weeks.

Ideally, the Lilywhites want the majority of deals done ready for when the squad return for pre-season training on August 13.

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They have 17 players now in the final year of their contracts, while Paul Gallagher is out of contract this summer.

Paul Gallagher is at the end of his deal with PNEPaul Gallagher is at the end of his deal with PNE
Paul Gallagher is at the end of his deal with PNE

Not all of those 17 players are being negotiated with at the moment, however club sources say quite a high number are.

Ben Davies, Ben Pearson, Daniel Johnson and Alan Browne are the stand-out names of those whose current deals run out in June 2021.

Others in their last year include Andrew Hughes, Sean Maguire, Ryan Ledson, Josh Harrop, Billy Bodin, Darnell Fisher, Paul Huntington, David Nugent, Josh Earl, Josh Ginnelly and Louis Moult.

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Hughes and Maguire were both regular starters in the season just finished, with Harrop used regularly either from the start or off the bench.

Ledson forced his way into contention after the restart, while before lockdown Fisher was first-choice right-back although he lost his place to Joe Rafferty.

All the players are on their shortened summer break at the moment, with some of them managing to get away on holiday.

So while agreements might get put in place with their agents, it could be a few days before anyone physically signs on the dotted line.

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It will be an interesting summer in football in terms of the financial implications from the Covid-19 pandemic. Clubs do not have any certainty on whether limited crowds will be allowed in stadiums from October 1.

While there is movement in the transfer market, it might be that more players opt for the security of sticking with their current clubs.