Preston North End confirmed on Friday that Joe Savage will be leaving the club in January, after three-and-a-half years at Deepdale.
Savage joined Preston in the summer of 2017, following Alex Neil to the club having worked closely with him at both Hamilton Academical and Norwich City.
Savage worked as Head of Recruitment and Head Scout at Preston, playing an important role in making new signings in recent times.
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Some have wondered just how much of an impact Savage has had at Preston; Peter Ridsdale has an involvement in transfers, so it’s hard to tell just who Savage pushed for and who was more of a Ridsdale signing.
Still, Savage has been at the club for signings like Darnell Fisher, Ryan Ledson, Brad Potts, Patrick Bauer, Scott Sinclair and Emil Riis, and he will obviously be missed by Neil given their close relationship over the years.
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So where is Savage off to? Preston suggested that he was leaving for an exciting opportunity at another club, whilst the Lancashire Evening Post claiming that a move to Scotland was on the cards.
It now seems that the club in question is Hearts, as Edinburgh Live report that Savage is in talks over a move to Tynecastle in January.
A deal allegedly hasn’t been done just yet, but Savage would become their new director of football, taking a more powerful role than his current on at Deepdale.
Hearts are looking to rebuild and return to the top flight, with Savage now potentially heading there in a deal that would see him reunite with Josh Ginnelly in the Scottish capital.