Preston’s play-off push took a major hit on Saturday afternoon, losing 2-1 away at Reading. North End are still within two points of the top six, but now have three difficult fixtures to come.
Alex Neil won’t be giving up yet, and nor should he. Yet at this stage of the season, there may be one eye towards the summer transfer window and next season. With a strong core already at Deepdale, North End’s focus will be on retaining players rather than signing them.
Callum Robinson is set to go as he approaches the final year of his contract, but question marks remain over others. Other than Robinson, North End’s most valuable players are Ben Davies, Ben Pearson and Alan Browne.
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All three should be on the radars of Premier League clubs, having enjoyed superb campaigns. In this market, it’s not absurd to claim that the trio could rake in around £30million to £40million.
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However, Preston are seemingly hoping to keep all three. As seen above, The Sun’s Alan Nixon claims that Preston want to secure new deals for the trio, even if we don’t win promotion to the Premier League.
All three have two years left on their contracts at Deepdale, and North End will want new deals for two reasons. Firstly to just secure their futures for a little longer, but also to preserve their market value.
It may be difficult to sign them all up given their Premier League qualities, but North End are allegedly at least trying to sort out new contracts – even if we stay in the Championship.