'That would be my aim' - Paul Heckingbottom details the financial shift needed at Preston North End
PNE have four more matches to play in Heckingbottom’s second season at the club
Paul Heckingbottom says he can get Preston North End challenging at the top of the Championship with added investment.
It’s something the PNE boss has referenced a few times of late. The timing is intriguing, given the attendance of US-born Saudi businessman, Amr Zedan, at the recent home game against Queens Park Rangers.
After that fixture, reports surfaced that Zedan is in advanced talks to buy the Deepdale outfit from the Hemmings family - whom he knows. In his latest press conference, the PNE boss was asked whether he sees a roadmap to success with the Lilywhites.
“Yeah, look, it can't be done without more money,” said Heckingbottom to BBC Lancashire. “So probably this season we would be bottom of the league in terms of expenditure, wages and net spend. For us to be where we are, doing that, shows that - like I said to you guys at the beginning of the season - it's not about money.
“And that's not Preston not spending, that's just the landscape of the Championship now. I look at the teams coming up and Lincoln have done it in a great way - probably how we will have to do it in this league. But they'll spend more than us, probably, in the summer and make big improvements. That's the lay of the land.
“Now, how we do it is really, really important because we have to do it. So if we could, for example, get our wage bill middle of the road and, while we're accumulating that over the next couple of years, also be investing, strengthening and paying transfer fees at the middle of the road, then I think I could get us up challenging, definitely. That would be my aim.”
‘That’s got to be our way forward’
Heckingbottom added: “I don’t really want to move people on (this summer). I’d rather make that stance and start injecting and building with players, and if we can only do that once, we can only do that once. Then we go again and try and generate our own. That's got to be our way forward.
“So from that aspect, with what we've had we've done really well so far. We've also shown how close you can get. So, January 4th with the least expenditure if you like... it shows it's not all about money and I believe that 100 per cent. But we need to keep moving forward; if we stand still we've gone backwards... simple as that.”