Preston take on Barnsley in the Championship tonight, but there has been some big news emerging this evening.
Whilst North End will be hoping for all three points at Oakwell tonight, fans will be fascinated by claims about the club’s future – and a potential future takeover.
Off The Pitch are reporting that Preston are now up for sale, with Trevor Hemming seeking a £50million fee for North End. Preston have allegedly pushed out a ‘pitch document’, attempting to convince potential buyers to make a move.
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North End compare themselves to Burnley in this document. The Clarets are the seventh most valuable Premier League club, with sensible financial spending leading to that tag.
Preston hope that an investor sees the potential in North End, with a £50million fee touted as a bargain given how Burnley are worth nearly ten times that amount now.
The document was seemingly pushed out around November, when Preston went top of the Championship. The big pitch from the club is that somebody could get their hands on a future Premier League club for just £50million, citing strong recruitment – like Burnley – as a major factor.
North End own Deepdale, and the land is on a 125-year lease, whilst the land owned for the new training ground is another potential carrot to dangle in front of interested parties.
Trevor Hemmings is allegedly ‘not desperate’ to sell, but is at least interested to see what is out there. A little bit more investment could just give Preston a major boost in the push for the Premier League, but some may be worried.
Hemmings maybe isn’t the biggest spender ever, but North End are run sensibly and without any major fears for the future. We’ve seen the likes of Birmingham City and Leyton Orient sold off to terrible owners in the past, with their mismanagement landing them in trouble or relegation trouble.
Going from being so stable to those concerns would be a massive blow, but Preston fans will hope that Hemmings will only sell if he’s confident the buyer will actually build on the good work done over the last 10 years.