Preston fans were pretty split on Lukas Nmecha during his time at Deepdale, but he’s proving his quality now.
North End appeared to have pulled off a coup in August 2018, luring Nmecha on loan from Manchester City ahead of a number of Championship rivals.
Nmecha had been tipped for stardom at City, and Preston fans were hoping he could score the goal to fire Alex Neil’s men into the play-offs.
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Unfortunately, that didn’t really happen. Nmecha only managed three goals in 44 games for North End, but did chip in with eight assists.
That’s where fans became a little divided. Some could see the potential in Nmecha; an athletically gifted attacker with the versatility to play all across the front line, and racking up so many assists at a young age was no fluke.
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Others felt Nmecha flattered to deceive and wasn’t ready for Championship football at that stage, and they were somewhat justified when loan spells to Wolfsburg and Middlesbrough offered little success.
This season, the 22-year-old is on loan at Anderlecht, joining Vincent Kompany’s side in Belgium – and what a season he is having.
Nmecha hit two goals in cup tie with Union Saint-Gilloise on Thursday, and his tally for the season now stands at 14 goals in 26 outings for Anderlecht.
The German Under-21 international is showing that he can fulfil his potential and become a goalscorer somewhere, whether that’s at Manchester City or elsewhere.
Preston would surely love to have him back now, and it looks like he will follow in the footsteps of former loanees Andy Carroll, Joshua King and Danny Welbeck in becoming stars after poor North End loan spells.