Preston North End boss highlights importance of £1.3m sale despite losing 'good character and personality'
Frokjaer made 107 appearances for the Lilywhites after joining in the summer of 2023
Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom says Mads Frokjaer’s sale wouldn’t have gone through without the signing of Andrew Moran.
The Dane saw his two-and-a-half year stay at Deepdale come to an end on transfer deadline day, with Danish Superliga side Brondby signing him for a reported £1.3million.
Frokjaer moved out and PNE brought Moran in on a permanent basis from Brighton, for a reported £1m. Given the quick turnaround after the Lilywhites’ trip to Ipswich Town, North End’s manager never got the chance to catch Frokjaer for a goodbye.
“Yeah, do you know what? We've been missing each other, so I didn't find out about the possibility of the bid until after the Ipswich game and then the club gave him permission to travel straight away,” said Heckingbottom. “But all I was bothered about was, ‘Listen, it's fine, but there's no way he's going anywhere unless we get the players in’.
“So, if we'd have failed with one of those, Mads would still be here. While we were working hard on the Monday, Mads was all ready to go and sign but we had to make sure that we got those over the line first. Then, we've missed each other over the last couple of days.
“But by all accounts, yeah, Mads was excited about it, thought it was the right thing, the right time and like I said, we were happy with it financially, which is fine. But from a performance point of view, we had to make sure that we got who we wanted in before we sanctioned Mads going out.”
Frokjaer was enduring a frustrating season on an individual note, with only four of his 20 appearances coming from the start. The Dane had started 60 matches across his first two campaigns at Deepdale. Despite the lack of minutes this year, Heckingbottom valued the 26-year-old and will miss his presence in and around the camp.
“Yeah, obviously I can only speak on the last 18 months or so and yeah, good,” said Heckingbottom. “A good guy. Listen, I reflect more on Mads as a person. I had some real good chats with Mads, not just about football but everything - life, Denmark, schooling, politics, what he enjoys.
“He's a good character, good personality... a little bit different, a little bit against the grain but that brain, that intelligence is evident when he plays. Then it's about getting that impact every game and making sure that you affect the team in a positive way, and never once did he shy away from the hard work.
“He would always do his share. Tactically, got his role without the ball so yeah, he was always there to play his part for the team. The one thing we always pushed him on was goals and assists, and if his numbers were right up there, it could’ve been a totally different move. Who knows where it could’ve been?”
PNE boss stresses need to trade
The sale of Frokjaer is another recent example of Preston moving a player on whom, in previous years, may well have stuck around for much longer. Heckingbottom, though, is absolutely clear on the need to remove sentiment and be as active as possible when it comes to selling opportunities.
“Yeah listen, it's hard,” said Heckingbottom. “Some things are and I'm comfortable with that approach, because I think when you see people every day, and as long as you're treating everyone right and speaking to them all the time, then everyone knows it's not personal. It's not personal, it's business, it's performance.
“But when I say it's not personal, there's still an aspect where we have to do the right thing for the club and it's driving change, it's driving things forward Listen, if we're letting contracts run down and letting people go on free transfers season after season, then that's wrong.
“And I'm going to get frustrated, because I'm never going to be able to make positive change. It's going to feel too much like last summer when all the money is tied up in players' wages, so the only way you can bring a player in is by letting players go. So, I think Mads is a good example.
“We move Mads and we move Steffi on; we can then use that money to bring in Callum and bring in Andy. Otherwise, you're just letting players' contracts run down and we're forever getting frees and loans. So we have to do that, definitely. I'm saying you have to be aggressive to get players in; you've got to be aggressive to move players.
“That's not saying that we wanted to move them, but you need to drum up and you need to make sure that there is interest. The natural way to do that is by winning games and playing well. If you are doing that, you might get interest at the top end for players, in terms of all of a sudden people are trying to prise your players away from you and you're putting real big demands on the fee and things like that.”