Portsmouth are interested in Tom Bayliss this summer after Preston decided to transfer-list the midfielder, with Danny Cowley a big fan.
Preston appeared to have landed a major coup back in the summer of 2019 when they signed Bayliss.
Bayliss arrived in a seven-figure move from Coventry City having excelled for the Sky Blues.
There were real hopes that Bayliss would become another James Maddison or Callum Wilson; a real success story from the Coventry ranks.
Three years on and Bayliss has started just one Championship game for Preston.
Bayliss struggled to break into the Preston side under Alex Neil and was then loaned out to Wigan Athletic for this past season.
The 23-year-old even struggled for first-team action with the Latics as they won promotion to the Championship.
Now transfer-listed, Bayliss can leave Preston and will sadly go down as one of North End’s worst investments in recent times.
Portsmouth are interested in Tom Bayliss
North End will now have to sell for a mere fraction of that seven-figure outlay and will likely be hoping for a League One suitor.
The News in Portsmouth now report that boss Danny Cowley is a big fan of Bayliss.
Portsmouth may now make a move to sign Bayliss this summer with Cowley keen for a midfield addition who can dictate the game.
We haven’t really seen that for Preston but Bayliss had shown that quality with Coventry.
Preston may simply hope to cut their losses and get Bayliss out of the door for whatever they can get this summer.
Yet you do wonder if North End would seek to use Bayliss as some kind of leverage for Pompey attacker Ronan Curtis.
Curtis was a prime target for Preston last summer but North End ended up being price out of a move.
Curtis has just one year left on his Portsmouth deal now though and Preston could get creative by sending Bayliss to Pompey in a deal for Curtis.
Whilst usually known as a winger, Curtis spent most of last season playing as a striker – an area where Preston need reinforcements.
That’s just an idea if Pompey do move for Bayliss, though a straight sale is much more likely.