American business Chris Kirchner is now considering a move to buy Preston North End after pulling out of the race for Derby County.
That’s according to The Sun (13/02, p61), who claim that Kirchner is now focusing on Preston and has visited Lancashire.
Kirchner is understood to have watched Preston last week after flying in from the Middle East, and has been looking around North End’s Euxton facilities.
Kirchner’s name may be familiar to some as he was attempting to buy Derby County for some time.
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The 34-year-old provided suitable proof of funds to buy the Rams, at least according to Andrew Hosking of Derby’s joint-administrators Quantuma.
Kirchner couldn’t get a deal done though and released a statement in December confirming that he was pulling out of the process to buy Derby.
At the end of that statement, Kirchner noted that he and his team were still focused on buying a football club – and Preston appear to be his new club of choice.
North End saw owner Trevor Hemmings pass away in October, with the club passing on to Hemmings’ family.
A takeover may make some sense, but the Hemmings family will want the club to go into the right hands after Trevor’s work stabilising the club.
Kirchner is co-founder, chairman and CEO of San Francisco-based global logistics company Slync.io, and is also on the board of another logistics firm in SHIPSTA.
A golf fanatic, Kirchner now wants to make inroads into football but there is little in the way of information on his net worth.
Having visited Preston, it sounds like Kirchner has a keen interest in North End and will be a name to keep an eye on moving forward.
UPDATE: Lancs Live’s George Hodgson has noted that Preston are up for sale but Kirchner has looked into other English clubs and Craig Hemmings is currently enjoying life at North End.