Preston North End's transfer challenge emphasised amid Charlton Athletic and Derby County deals

The loan market has far from fully kicked in but the Lilywhites were able to get Daniel Jebbison through the door one month ago. They then acted fast to swoop in for Michael Smith, following his exit from Sheffield Wednesday. Boss Paul Heckingbottom has made it clear, though, that he is still on the lookout for a ‘different’ type.

It’s been reported that PNE are prepared to spend a seven-figure sum on a centre-forward; the fact they are yet to do so suggests that finding the right one, or agreeing a deal for one, has been a significant challenge. CEO Peter Ridsdale discussed it in his interview with the Lancashire Post last week.

A quick look around the striker recruitment done across the Championship, to this point in the window, only serves to emphasise the test North End face. Two other loan signings have been made: highly rated Divin Mubama to Stoke City, and Luca Kjerrumgaard to Watford (after Udinese paid a reported €5m to sign him).

Those aside, there are very few additions that - according to reported fees - would fall into North End’s price range, which appears again to be around the £2-2.5m mark. Isaac Olaofe (Charlton, ~£1.5m), Rumarn Burrell (QPR, ~£1m), Ryan Hardie (Wrexham, ~£700K) and Bobby Wales (Swansea, £300,000) are four of them.

Stoke also reacted to Boavista’s sorry situation to land Robert Bozenik on a free transfer, 12 months after Hull were reportedly close to a £3.8m move. Another free swoop was Bristol City’s capture of Emil Riis, after his exit from Deepdale. Apart from that, there have been fees beyond PNE’s reach paid:

Kyogo Furuhashi (Birmingham, £9m), Damion Downs (Southampton, £7m), Mathias Kvistgaarden (Norwich, £6.9m), Patrick Agyemang (Derby, £5.8m), Josh Coburn (Millwall, £5m) Aune Heggebo (West Brom, £4.7m) and most recently, Charlie Kelman (Charlton, £3m). Derby’s fee for Carlton Morris was undisclosed; surely seven figures.

The market has gone to another level and leaves North End in a somewhat worrying place; time will tell what work they manage to do before the window shuts. Forwards are the hardest to get but regularly the biggest to sell... the rewards are great if you do manage to get it right. Since Jordan Hugill in 2018 and Callum Robinson in 2019, Preston haven’t been able to strike gold when it comes to buying and selling them.

The Lilywhites broke their transfer record to land Milutin Osmajic two summers ago. He has scored eight and nine goals in the last two Championship campaigns - not groundbreaking, but the kind of return that should demand some attention. At the age of 26, with two years left on his contract, this summer on paper is probably a good time to explore a sale. Clearly, the baggage is a factor at play; approaches look unlikely.

In hindsight, the summer of 2022 was a missed opportunity with regards to Emil Riis. The Dane had just scored 16 league goals - particularly rare for a PNE player in the Championship this century - and was linked with a £7.5m move to Middlesbrough. He ended up leaving for nothing, which has to go down as a chance lost. Granted, a serious injury was suffered by him in January 2023.

A lack of player trading in recent years looks to have caught up with the Lilywhites, who have done five free transfers, three permanent signings and one loan. With the sales of Theo Mawene and Jack Whatmough, which Heckingbottom pointed out last weekend, PNE’s net spend should not be excessive at the moment.

When it comes to a striker, though, the money being spent across the division raises concern as to whether North End can find the answer. Interestingly, Preston’s business - trialist Andrija Vukcevic aside - has been entirely domestic.

They have shopped in the overseas market of late but mostly Denmark. North End - whose three-man recruitment team was announced last month - have got to cast their net as far and wide as possible, given the challenges presented in the mainstream market.

Eyes across more leagues than ever and a relentless pursuit of players capable of providing that all important edge. After the Jeppe Okkels situation there could be some hesitancy to go again, but the circumstances there were off from the start. With the tests North End face, there’s got to be courage and conviction in recruitment.

EFL clubs are allocated four ESC slots, which gives Preston the opportunity to tap into markets all over the world. The coaching and recruitment of players is what will give PNE any chance of achieving success and outperforming the competition; it is paramount to have quality throughout both of those departments.

Two other big striking hits of the last few years were Tom Cannon and Cameron Archer. As much as North End want a permanent addition, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the loan route proved to be Preston’s best way of bringing in the required quality. Even that, though, is getting more expensive and competitive, as explained last week.

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