Ryan Lowe has calmed the expectation levels on new Preston North End signing Layton Stewart after arriving from Liverpool.
PNE landed their fifth signing of the summer on Saturday, confirming the arrival of young striker Stewart.
North End have moved for Stewart after already snapping up Calvin Ramsay, Mads Frøkjær-Jensen, Duane Holmes and Will Keane.
Stewart is only 20 but comes in to bolster Lowe’s attacking ranks ahead of the new Championship season.
PNE confirmed his arrival on Saturday, paving the way for him to make his debut against Aberdeen just hours later.
Stewart scuffed one chance at goal but will be looking to kick on in the coming weeks.
It’s hard to gauge what to expect from Stewart.
Once highly-regarded in the Liverpool ranks, Stewart had to battle back from a major knee injury in 2021.
That set Stewart’s development back a little but he still managed 11 goals in 17 Premier League 2 games last season.
Stewart is one for the future but Lowe will be looking for him to chip in with a few goals over the course of the season.
Lowe has now spoken to iFollow PNE about Stewart, highlighting that he has watched North End’s new man for ‘many years’.
Lowe did though attempt to manage expectations, suggesting that Stewart is unlikely to come in and immediately score loads of goals in the Championship.
The PNE boss suggested that Stewart will be an ‘impact player’ to begin with but also that North End are happy to get a young goalscorer tied down for three years.
“I’ve followed Layton for many years and watched him score loads of goals for Liverpool at all different levels,” said Lowe. “When we heard there was an opportunity to get him, for him to be our own, it was very pleasing.”
“We have to manage him. Expectations are not going to be massive, like he’s gonna come in, hit the ground and running and score loads of goals. I think he can score goals, he’ll be an impact player first and foremost but he’s a goalscorer and when goalscorers come along, you’ve got to make sure you snap them up quick and that’s certainly what we’ve done,” he added.