PNE have signed the Brentford defender on loan

New Preston North End signing Jayden Meghoma was always the stand out option for manager Paul Heckingbottom.

The Lilywhites wrapped up their second piece of incoming business on Thursday with the loan arrival of Meghoma, from Brentford, confirmed. Preston’s new man has played four first team games for the Bees this campaign - after joining them from Southampton in the summer for a reported £5million initial fee.

Heckingbottom had been looking to strengthen the left side of his team after bolstering central defence with the acquisition of Lewis Gibson. PNE had plenty of options but Meghoma’s pedigree, attributes and character made him the number one target for North End’s boss - who has studied him for two months.

“That position is really difficult to get someone you really like and sometimes people are reluctant to go and get a first-time loan,” said Heckingbottom. “When you look around at them sometimes you can think you'd be spending a lot of time coaching them, rather than them impacting your team. For me, even though he's probably the youngest one we looked at - in terms of first-team exposure - I think he is the closest to what we need.

placeholder image — Jayden Meghoma | Getty Images

“Listen, he's a good footballer and technically very good but he’s game... he competes. Slight in stature but physically good in terms of how he can run, his athleticism, but also his mentality as well, he competes. That's what you need when you're playing in the Championship. I think a big thing which Jayden is looking forward to is how demanding the Championship can be. I know what (Brentford) think of him. They've got real high hopes for him.”

“Stole a march on everyone.”

Heckingbottom did not speak directly with Bees boss Thomas Frank but chatted with key Brentford staff and felt North End got ahead of the game with the signing. The PNE manager said there was no first refusal on another loan in the summer but wrapping up the deal swiftly was still a big positive.

“I think we sort of stole a march on everyone and the fact that we had contact, I don't think they sort of allowed him to speak to anyone else or make it known that he was available,” said Heckingbottom. “Then, when Jayden and his family felt they wanted to go out on loan, they spoke to us and wanted to come.

“So, yeah, we sort of stole a march on everyone, which is great. Like I say, there are lots of players out there to look at but I just felt where Jayden is, how hungry he is, how he responded to what we said about him and his game... he wanted to come here and so he's the right fit for us.

“We're grateful to Brentford for helping us sort it out. Peter (Ridsdale) got on with it straight away and got the deal done really, really quickly. Brentford were really good to deal with because they wanted him to come to us as well. Once I spoke to Jayden and his dad it was ‘yes’. Literally, ‘when can we come?’”

North End’s boss had discussed looking to the loan market after spending a reported £1.5million plus to bring in Gibson from Plymouth Argyle. With only 20 games left to play in the Championship season it was vital for Heckingbottom to recruit someone ready to go straight away. Meghoma is in contention for Saturday’s trip to Luton Town and up to speed fitness wise.

“Yeah, that's the point,” said Heckingbottom. “There were a lot of other young players we looked at and were older. But I just didn't feel they were close enough to us. And that's not me judging that they're not going to have as good a career as Jayden; it's just where they are right now. You can see their attributes, you can see what they've got, but you're looking and thinking you’d be forever frustrated at this thing that they're doing at the moment in time.

“That would bring us more pressure than it would give us. Jayden, with his first-team experience and his attributes, is the closest to coming in and having that good impact. He's experienced a lot, from Spurs to Southampton, then he moved to Brentford, played in first-team games and played in the Premier League. He's had minutes at top, top clubs and been in and around first teams.

“It's not like you're taking an 18-year-old out of someone's 21s, which can be really false. That jump, when you're speaking about how eye-opening a Championship can be, generally it's more eye-opening if you're coming straight from the 21s to it. In terms of the level that Jayden’s been playing at he's played at the top, top level and experienced that. The physicality and how robust you have to be for the Championship is the bit that he'll get used to.”