'For me' - Preston North End boss fires player trading warning as January transfer aim set out

Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom is in favour of a player trading model, but insists there is an art to selling.

The Lilywhites latest club accounts showed a figure of £400,000 for player sales, with the total over the last four seasons at £2.2m. Heckingbottom has discussed the need for North End to try and fill the squad with more young players and develop assets.

This season, the only two under-24 players featuring regularly for the first team are both on loan: Kaine Kesler-Hayden and Sam Greenwood. Heckingbottom has implied he is keen to freshen things up in the next few transfer windows.

But, he is wary of going too far the other way, when it comes to wheeling and dealing in the transfer market. The PNE manager sees all the positives in signing and selling, but believes you can easily make wrong decisions when it comes to the latter.

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“Asking a manager that, I would say never!" said Heckingbottom, when asked how often clubs should aim to sell a player. "Because, you always want your best players. It is (the idea) for a club; not for a manager. There are two things I am talking about, so the right way to run a football club is that - if that is how you want to increase your budget and increase.

“It is not always the best way to win leagues or get promoted, if you get what I mean. You try and do both and I try and be open with Peter (Ridsdale), Craig (Hemmings) and the board about it. To get where we want to be, to increase playing budget numbers, then I think we can do that.

“But, then there is a right time to sell. And, the right time to move players on. For me, it is only when you have got that replacement. If you have not and it is going to harm your performances too much, then you don't do it. Ultimately, we are a performance industry and what you do on the pitch can earn you far more money than selling a player."

In terms of targeting younger players with high potential and resale value, the North End boss does not believe that means signing players not ready to play. That will certainly be the aim in the upcoming January transfer window, but that doesn’t rule out ticking both boxes.

"Yeah, players to come in and play," said Heckingbottom, when asked about the target for January. "It is always players to come in and play. Just because someone tells you someone is a good player and they are a good age, you have to be able to see that there is a pathway into your team.

“Or, how they play their certain position looks like they should be wearing a PNE shirt. So, that is it and that's how you then make better decisions with the money you have got. If we are looking at two number eights and we all agree that they are both fantastic players. Well, do you know what?

“This player may be the cheapest, may be the youngest or whatever, but he is the one because that is the type of player we are missing in our team for example. It is not to say the other one is not a good player; you have to really identify what you need and what attributes you are after."