Preston have secured their first signing of the Ryan Lowe era with Aston Villa striker Cameron Archer arriving on loan for the rest of the season.
North End have been hoping to bring in another striker this month and have finally landed their man.
A key factor in the move is the relationship between North End boss Lowe and Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard.
The pair go way back and have struck deals before. Gerrard allowed Rangers duo Jamie Barjonas and Zak Rudden to sign for Lowe at Bury and Plymouth respectively.
Add in pre-season friendlies organised between the pair and you can see why Gerrard trusts Lowe to work with Archer.
The 20-year-old striker is one of Villa’s brightest young talents but now needs first-team minutes away from Villa Park.
Archer bagged four goals in just two EFL Cup games this season, smashing a hat-trick against Barrow before burying a superb header against Chelsea.
The hope now is that Archer kicks on and thrives with Preston, and he should get plenty of opportunities to shine.
Archer gives Lowe another option in attack as a natural striker, competing with Ched Evans, Emil Riis and Seani Maguire.
North End boss Lowe has offered his reaction to the club’s official website, admitting that he has been tracking Archer for some time.
Lowe hailed Archer as a ‘natural goalscorer’ whilst claiming that Preston fought off major competition for his signature, with the deal appearing to be a major coup for North End.
“We’re absolutely delighted. I’ve been monitoring Cameron Archer for a while now,” said Lowe. “He’s a natural goalscorer who I’m really excited to work with and hopefully he’ll score some goals for us. There were several clubs after him chasing his signature but we’re the privileged ones to be able to take him.”
“His objective will be to play for the Aston Villa first team in the future and we want to help him do that, but his objective now until the end of the season will be to help Preston North End finish as high up the table as possible,” he added.