Ryan Lowe now looks to have ticked off one Preston North End transfer wish

It would've been a great shame, had the case of Preston North End and Mads Frokjaer ended up one of what could've been. But, after a first half of the season filled with moments and glimpses; likely frustration and perhaps some confusion, things now only appear to be heading in one direction for the number ten. And that isn't half exciting.

It was not long ago at all, that question marks were being placed over North End's reported £1.2million capture of Frokjaer. Snapped up efficiently in the summer, the Dane's suitability to PNE's style as a team suddenly appeared a concern. Now, on the back of another influential performance, it is clear he was not the issue. Frokjaer, from the off, has known the Championship would demand greater things of him in certain areas.

To his credit, he has been open about that; not shying away from the fact he needed to adjust to the intensity and physicality. But at the same time, Frokjaer is a purist and you will never take that side away. He is someone who loves the game for its beauty; someone who wants to control and caress the ball, not blast it into open air and go fetch. Asking him to do so would be like telling Ben Duckett to go out to the middle and leave.

And only now, the full potential is being seen - early hype and price tag justified. Frokjaer has, seemingly in a flash, flipped the script from being someone stuck in limbo to the main man. And the way he goes about his business on the pitch - something you cannot quantify with a number - is what makes the Dane so wonderfully watchable. Personality - which Frokjaer does not lack - goes a long way in this day and age. Long legs, low socks and an aura of someone without a care in the world - but really one step ahead of the rest.

There is a sense of belonging, too. Frokjaer does not huff and puff, he glides and prances. The stage is his. With Brad Potts, Ben Whiteman, Alan Browne, Liam Millar, Will Keane and Emil Riis surrounding him, PNE's number 10 looks to have the ideal environment in which to thrive. These are players you can imagine wanting to play together and enjoying doing so: fiercely competitive, switched on and capable of causing defences problems.

When Ryan Lowe admitted he would be looking for a maverick ahead of last summer, there will have been some intrigue but also eyebrows raised. The PNE boss said, in May 2023: "We've got to be a little bit cute and clever, but I think every player we've got in our squad is fantastic, in different ways. But, we haven't got a maverick have we? A maverick can turn something from nothing. And we haven't got a 'Speedy Gonzales', like lightning quick. And I think, if we can find another goal scorer to go with what we've got, then there are three certs for definite."

Only North End's manager will know whether it was all part of the plan with Frokjaer - leaving him on the bench while losing at Hull; not sending him on at Chelsea or Leicester. The 24-year-old now looks to have earned whatever trust or confidence was lacking though. And any hope of Preston making something of a season which - for all the world - looked to be drifting away, could hang largely on him. Lowe wanted a maverick and who knows whether he was there all along, or if it just took Frokjaer a little bit of time to become it. Mads 10? Let's give them Mads 10.