Preston North End transfer stance on signing another winger amid links to ex-Rangers and Barnsley man

The international break allowed Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom to cast an eye towards the upcoming transfer window.

Having been appointed in late August, the PNE boss had little time to add to his squad and made the sole addition of Josh Bowler - on loan from Nottingham Forest. January will be his first full window as manager and by the time it comes around, Heckingbottom will have managed 24 league games. It will give him another opportunity to add to areas of the squad he deems necessary.

“Yeah listen, we are always planning for January,” said Heckingbottom. “In terms of allowing a bit more time to it, looking at things and having meetings about it, yeah, definitely. You would be stupid not to.

“You’re always planning for windows - target lists, pushing the recruitment department and organising is always ongoing. But, in terms of me being able to allocate my time to it, yeah, it is a great opportunity for me to do that.”

PNE have been linked with four players ahead of the transfer window, with Ryan Kent the most notable name to emerge in the media. North End signed Bowler and fellow wide man, Jeppe Okkels, in the summer. Neither of those players are currently getting much game time, so does Heckingbottom see scope to add another winger to his squad?

“Yeah, we have to be clear on... so say if we had an unlimited amount of money, we could change how we play and go: ‘Right, we want to play 4-3-3’,” said Heckingbottom. “Let’s go and sign four wingers, but we have not got that. So, it is not that easy. For us to suddenly go and get four wingers to compete on both sides of the pitch, it is going to be difficult.

“If we do it like we did earlier in the season for a spell and play with one wider man, getting width from a full-back on the other side, then we can do that. But, ultimately it comes down to performance. When you are planning longer term, what the squad looks like at the start of next season will determine how much wriggle room we’ve got - and how much we can change.”