Preston North End boss Frankie McAvoy has indicated that the club are looking at ‘quite a few’ options in the free agent market.
PNE took Connor Wickham on trial in August, and the former Crystal Palace striker remains at Deepdale.
No decision has been made on Wickham, but PNE made an intriguing decision with their Championship squad.
PNE have named just 23 players for their 25-man squad. Two spots have been left open, and a number of players are currently unregistered.
Connor Ripley, Joe Rafferty, Paul Huntington, Josh Harrop and Jamie Thomas have all been left out.
PNE can add any of the two at any point, so this isn’t the end of the road for them.
With Wickham still in contention for a full-time deal, North End have given themselves room to give him a deal.
Intriguingly though, boss McAvoy has now told BBC Radio Lancashire that PNE are actually considering other free agents too.
North End could move for them or Wickham to bolster the squad, or simply add two of the players left out.
“We’ve left a bit of flexibility, to be quite honest,” said McAvoy. “It might be filled with two of the guys you’ve just mentioned, but obviously we’ve had Connor, we’ve been looking at Connor as well. There’s quite a few other options that we have been looking at, obviously free agents. So, we’ve just left ourselves a bit of flexibility, and when we feel the right time to add the two, then we’ll do that,” he added.
Who is available on the free agent market?
Hal Robson-Kanu is an option in attack, and the same goes for former PNE loanee Andy Carroll.
Josh Sims and Muhamed Besic are interesting options, but Preston don’t really need a winger or midfielder with now.
Kean Bryan would have been ideal at the back, but he has joined West Bromwich Albion.
Any addition would surely be a left-sided defender or right wing back if Matthew Olosunde’s injury doesn’t ease up soon.