Preston boss Ryan Lowe has hinted that he may look to sign English players who are currently playing abroad this summer.
North End have just four games left this season having drawn 1-1 with Millwall on Friday afternoon.
Lowe will be preparing for the future and, more specifically, the upcoming transfer window with Preston needing some reinforcements.
Fans are expecting a big overhaul of the playing squad as Lowe looks to mould the squad in his image.
Preston don’t exactly have the biggest budget in the league though, so finding signings will be tricky for Lowe.
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With data analysis company MRKT Insights now working with Preston, the hope is that North End have irons in the fire.
Lowe has already hinted that Preston have transfer targets around Europe with the North End boos keen to cast the net a little wider.
Now, Lowe has told Lancs Live that there may be English players abroad on the Preston radar, with a belief that they may fancy coming back to English football.
“Yeah, you’ve got to broaden your horizons,” said Lowe. “What you’ve got now, is a lot of English players playing abroad, but who are not really playing that much. Do they maybe want to get back over here? Do they want the right fit of club?” he added.
This was just a snippet from Lowe but it’s an interesting one, so who could Preston try to bring back to England?
One name that sticks out is Zulte Waregem defender Cameron Humphreys-Grant.
The right-sided centre back came through the Manchester City ranks before heading to Belgium in 2019.
Linked with a return to England in the winter, Humphreys-Grant is out of contract this summer. With Sepp van den Berg returning to Liverpool and the futures of Bambo Diaby and Jordan Storey unclear, Humphreys-Grant could be an option on the right of Lowe’s back three.
Staying in Belgium, Royal Union Saint-Gilloise wing back Matthew Sorinola fits the bill.
Capable of playing at left wing back or right wing back, Sorinola showed huge potential with MK Dons last season.
Yet first-team action has been hard to come by in Belgium, with Sorinola yet to start a single game. With just 147 minutes of league action this season, Sorinola has endured a frustrating campaign and would provide Lowe a wing back option on both sides.
Elsewhere, Stuttgart talent Clinton Mola has only started one Bundesliga game with two substitute appearances.
Mola can play at left back or in midfield, and he actually worked with assistant boss Mike Marsh in the England Under-17’s.
Mola then played in the England Under-18’s, featuring under Neil Dewsnip – the man who became Lowe’s sporting director at Plymouth.
There are connections there with Mola, so he could be on the Preston radar.
Another former England Under-17 talent who worked with Marsh is Porto hitman Danny Loader. The former Reading striker has played just six minutes of senior action this season and turns 22 this summer.
Loader needs minutes and a loan move to replace Cameron Archer at Preston may not be the worst idea.
Finally we have a player who isn’t English but was born in England – Fraser Hornby.
Hornby has been on the Preston radar for a while now, going back to his days at Everton.
A huge striker at 6ft 4in tall, Hornby is now with Reims in France but has started just four league games this season.
Hard-working but not exactly prolific in recent times, Hornby may fancy coming back to England. Liverpudlian duo Lowe and Marsh may well know all about Hornby from his time at Everton, so this one wouldn’t be a surprise.
These players may fit the bill for North End this summer as Lowe looks to add quality however he can.