They say to never fall in love with loan players but some of Preston North End’s recent loan signings have made that mantra rather difficult to follow.
PNE fans have been spoilt with the sheer quality of loan signings over the years.
If you look at the last England squad, two former PNE loanees – Jordan Pickford and Sam Johnstone – were both involved.
Another goalkeeper captured PNE hearts in Daniel Iversen whilst Sepp van den Berg became a real fan favourite in an 18-month spell from Liverpool.
Cameron Archer made himself a hero for life with a winning goal against Blackpool and seeing all three of Archer, Iversen and Van den Berg leave in the same summer was tough to swallow.
That didn’t stop PNE fans from falling in love with more loan players though with Alvaro Fernandez and Tom Cannon becoming stars at Deepdale.
Alvaro Fernandez and Tom Cannon reflect on PNE win
Fernandez arrived on loan from Manchester United, joining to play as a left wing back in Ryan Lowe’s system.
The Spaniard dazzled with his driving runs forward before he returned to United and ended up with Granada and now Benfica.
Striker Cannon came in from Everton and after a slow start to his loan spell, he suddenly hit the goal trail and couldn’t stop scoring.
Cannon ended up being the subject of rumours all summer long before eventually securing a big move to Leicester City.
The pair famously linked up for a superb goal to put PNE 3-0 up against Blackpool and Monday brought up a year since that game.
PNE posted videos of the goals on Instagram and both Fernandez and Cannon responded.
Cannon posted a white heart emoji with PNE fans asking him to come back and still passing on their appreciation for him now.
Fernandez wrote ‘what a game’, still holding North End close to his heart even whilst with Europa League quarter-finalists Benfica.
North End fans will hope to see Fernandez back at Deepdale one day and maybe a return next season isn’t completely out of the question.
Fernandez hasn’t really got going with Benfica yet and wasn’t a regular at Granada either, so who can truly rule out Fernandez coming back to play regularly at North End in the future?
Cannon has struggled with injury problems this season but could be back at Deepdale with Leicester when they visit PNE in the Championship later this month.
The Foxes are going for promotion and perhaps North End will have one eye on his situation in case he is available on loan again.
This is what happens when you fall for a loan player; you end up talking yourself into ways they could return one day!
It may be unlikely but both Fernandez and Cannon will always have supporters from PNE wherever they go… well, just as long as it isn’t Blackpool.