'Miles away from finished' - Paul Heckingbottom makes Preston North End transfer admission despite 5 signings
PNE Boss has been speaking transfers following PNE’s return to training ahead of new season
Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom has insisted there is still a lot of work to be done in the transfer window.
The Lilywhites have been one of the most active clubs in the Championship, bringing in five new fresh faces to date.
Brighton and Hove Albion defender Odeluga Offiah looks set to become signing number six, with a permanent deal for the Seagulls man reportedly agreed. Meanwhile, heading out of Deepdale could be Jack Whatmough, with the centre-back reportedly in talks with League One Huddersfield over a move to the John Smith’s Stadium.
PNE, who finished fifth from bottom in the Championship last season and only survived the drop on the final day, made a fast start to the summer by snapping up Jordan Thompson (Stoke City), Daniel Iversen (Leicester) and Pol Valentin (Sheffield Wednesday) on free transfers.
North End then secured the signature of highly-rated Thierry Small (Charlton), before completing a loan swoop for Bournemouth striker Daniel Jebbison.
Reflecting on the work conducted in the transfer market so far, Heckingbottom told iFollow PNE: ‘What we’ve done so far is everything we wanted to do. I think we’ve made some good additions and good improvements to the squad which will help us from game one all the way through to game 46.
‘We've been one of most active; we had to be. We did so much work during the season, which meant we could be on the front foot. I’m really delighted with what we've done so far, but we're miles away from finished.
‘It doesn't get easier as the window goes on, but what we did do, we gave ourselves a real good head start and stole a march on some clubs and managed to recruit really, really well.
‘I wouldn’t want it to drag to the end of the window. I’d say between now and the start of the season I’d like to have everything done, then you’ve got your players, but who knows how difficult or how time consuming that might be.’
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