Todd Cantwell won’t be facing Preston North End today with Blackburn Rovers and Rangers chasing the Norwich City playmaker.
PNE are in action at Deepdale today, welcoming Norwich City as Championship action returns following last week’s FA Cup games.
The Canaries head to Lancashire with a new manager in the dugout with David Wagner taking charge.
The German has replaced Dean Smith as Norwich boss and lost his first game in charge with a 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Blackburn Rovers.
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Wagner will be looking for better today but he will have to take on PNE without playmaker Cantwell.
Wagner has told The Athletic that Cantwell is not available for selection this afternoon because he is in talks with other clubs.
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“I think there is no secret,” said Wagner. “He will not be involved (at Preston on Saturday) for sure. He is having conversations with clubs. It makes sense that he takes his time now in this window and we will see after the window how everything progresses. But I think at the minute this is where his focus is on and this is totally OK,” he added.
Cantwell, 24, has turned out 18 times for Norwich this season but has yet to register a goal or assist in a dismal campaign.
Many were backing Cantwell for stardom just a couple of years ago but he has seen his career go in reverse.
It’s one less player for PNE to worry about today though and there appears to be a real battle on for his signature.
Our local rivals Blackburn Rovers allegedly want Cantwell and have already had a bid of around £2million rejected.
Rovers may find it difficult to win this race though because Rangers are very interested.
Sky Sports claim that Rangers have held ‘positive talks’ over a deal for Cantwell and are now favourites to sign him.
PNE and Ryan Lowe won’t much care where Cantwell goes, but being unavailable today is a nice boost and Rovers missing out wouldn’t exactly be a bad thing.