Preston North End will not be signing defender Nathaniel Adjei this month after the Ghanaian defender completed a move to French side Lorient.
PNE fans would love to see a centre back or two arrive but it looks unlikely to happen this month.
Budget restrictions have already ruled out a move to sign Crewe Alexandra defender Connor O’Riordan as he joined Blackburn Rovers instead.
Another name can now be crossed off the list with Nathaniel Adjei leaving Hammarby for a move to France rather than heading to Deepdale…
PNE-linked Nathaniel Adjei secures move to Lorient
Reports in November suggested that PNE had shown a real interest in signing Hammarby defender Adjei.
The 21-year-old has impressed in Sweden having previously been with Danbort FC in his native Ghana.
Strong, tall, quick and confident on the ball, Adjei is certainly the kind of defender PNE supporters would love to see arrive at Deepdale.
Sadly, this one always seemed beyond PNE as the initial report suggested that Hammarby wanted around £3million for their star defender.
That would be a club-record deal for North End and we just never really saw a way in which North End could structure a deal.
Adjei has now made his move with French side Lorient confirming his arrival on loan until the end of the season.
There is a permanent option as part of the deal and Aftonbladet in Sweden claim that the total price could reach around €7million (£6million).
That is because Lorient may be paying a hefty loan fee in order for Adjei to make the move to France before then paying more cash to turn the move permanent.
PNE certainly had no chance of paying that kind of money and Hammarby must be delighted to be in line for such a huge pay day.
That figure is double the price quoted in November, and even that was likely to be beyond PNE, so we can’t be too disappointed at missing out here.
Finding another defender with similar attributes ahead of the summer window should be a priority though with more speed certainly needed at the back after some shaky defensive displays from North End this season.