It was no surprise to see Alvaro Fernandez win Preston North End’s Young Player of the Year award at the end of the season.
The 20-year-old gave his all in the Lilywhites shirt and was a huge fan favourite. He understood what it meant to play for the club and he gave the side some much needed quality.
He made 42 appearances in all competitions for Preston as he battled with Robbie Brady for the left-wing-back role. Brady has signed a two year extension with the club but we will still need another player on that side.
Although Fernandez’s loan spell has finished, club director Peter Ridsdale has wasted no time in speaking to Manchester United to see if they can bring the Spaniard back.
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Ridsdale was at the FA Cup final at the weekend where Manchester United club representatives were present to see their team lose 2-1 to Manchester City.
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Speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire, Ridsdale admitted he took the opportunity to confirm the club would like Fernandez to return.
“I don’t think I could find anybody who could say they wouldn’t (want Fernandez to rejoin) – of course we would. He was a massive hit and the frustration sometimes, which is life, is that you go into the loan market and if it works, people criticise us because we have to go back.
It’s out of our hands but I did speak to Manchester United about him on Saturday [at the FA Cup final] and you never say never. Let’s see what happens.”
Preston are unlikely to be the only side interested in signing Fernandez on loan. He’s sure to have clubs in Europe looking at him as well. But first, Manchester United are likely to want to have a look at the Spaniard in pre-season training.
They traditionally take a big squad on their pre-season tours to allow for squad rotation so you can expect to see him feature in some of their games in USA.
It would mean, it could be a fairly late decision on when United decide what to do with Fernandez. He only joined Preston last season in the week before the opening game.
It leaves Ryan Lowe in a tricky situation as he would need to have other irons in the fire if Fernandez wasn’t return to Preston or indeed if he doesn’t want to wait too long for a decision.