Preston have been linked with Sol Bamba in a move that just wouldn’t really make sense for Ryan Lowe’s approach.
North End haven’t yet made a new signing this summer but are expected to be busy in the coming days and weeks.
Lowe understandably wants a number of new signings and names like Freddie Woodman, Cyrus Christie and Andre Gray have been strongly linked.
A host of bizarre rumours have emerged since the end of the season and arguably the strangest one has emerged today.
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Preston have been linked with Sol Bamba
Wales Online claim that Preston have held talks over signing free agent defender Sol Bamba after his exit from Middlesbrough.
It’s suggested that North End made contact in recent days but face competition from Charlton Athletic.
Lowe has admitted that he wants to add some Championship experience but that likely means players like Gray and Christie, who are late 20’s to very early 30’s.
Both players have plenty left in the tank but would come in being able to make an immediate impact in the Championship.
Going for a 37-year-old like Bamba just doesn’t seem to fit into Preston’s approach this summer.
North End just aren’t really in a position to be committing wages to players in their mid-to-late 30’s with the potential of a major drop-off in quality and availability looming.
Lowe has made it clear that he wants players who will be available regularly, and whilst there are always outliers, players over 35 will be at greater risk of injury or needing rests.
Just look at David Nugent in 2019; we love Nugent and he will always be a Preston hero but he re-joined the club at 34 and just wasn’t at Championship level anymore.
That meant paying a player decent wages for little return – a road North End just can’t go down this summer.
This isn’t even the first link to a veteran defender released by Middlesbrough this summer after prior rumours about Lee Peltier.
Peltier would almost make a little more sense having played as a right-sided centre back for Boro last season, but again, at 35 he just doesn’t fit the age profile Preston need or want.
Bamba is vastly experienced but where exactly would he play in this North End team?
At 37, you’re expecting Bamba to play in the centre of a back three but Preston already have Patrick Bauer and Bambo Diaby in that role.
If North End were to sign another centre back, it would surely have to be a natural on the right side of Preston’s three-man defence.
Bamba just doesn’t fit that bill. Having dabbled with punditry in recent times and started just four league games for Boro in 2022, the Ivorian is a player that North End surely won’t be signing this summer.