Preston North End and Leeds United linked transfer target 'offered' to Champions League outfit

Preston North End are being linked with a swoop for US Cremonese midfielder Charles Pickel this summer.

The 2023/24 Championship season has yet to conclude but already there are a series of rumours linking the Lilywhites with a host of players. Marc Leonard and Reece Cole from Brighton and Exeter City, both midfielders are now joined by Pickel in being a reported target for North End.

Preston could already face some difficulties in signing Pickel however as they're not the only team that hold an interest. Football Scotland has reported that Celtic have been offered the midfielder after he emerged on their radar. Their scouts believe he is someone that would fit the profile 'perfectly' and a move to Celtic Park is a big possibility.

PNE along with Leeds United have a 'serious' interest in Pickel though his mind may have already been made up. Football Scotland reports that Celtic is his preferred destination though it is yet unclear if Celtic will act.

The last player to be linked is a 26-year-old defensive midfielder, currently playing for Cremonese, who play in the second tier of Italian football. He has played 24 times this season in Serie B with three goals and one assist as they battle for promotion, with his side currently in fourth.

Pickel born in Switzerland but eligible for DR Congo, is a 10-time international. He was away in January and February because he was at the Africa Cup of Nations and he started in six of their seven matches, as they reached the semi-finals.

His senior career began with FC Basel and there he played only three games before being moved on to Grasshoppers. He had a loan at Neuchâtel Xamax before being signed permanently by French side Grenoble in 2019. The Solothurn-born star spent two years there before a season in Portugal with Famalicao and then in 2022, he joined Cremonese after they had been promoted.