Preston have allowed Jordan Storey to leave the club on loan – and that surely means Bambo Diaby is signing on a permanent basis.
North End have announced that Storey has joined League One side Sheffield Wednesday on loan until the end of the season.
There is no permanent option in the loan move, meaning Storey looks set to be back at Deepdale for next season.
The hope is that Storey will play regular first-team football during his time at Hillsborough and come back a better player.
Storey hadn’t played a single minute of first-team action under Ryan Lowe but now heads to League One in search of minutes.
Lowe has talked of Preston being overstocked, but Storey will surely be replaced.
On the left side of the back there, Lowe can turn to Andrew Hughes or Greg Cunningham. In the middle, Patrick Bauer, Liam Lindsay and Paul Huntington are all options for Lowe.
On the right though, Storey’s exit means Sepp van den Berg is the only real option at Lowe’s disposal.
It seems unlikely that Lowe will want to leave himself with that situation, so this could signal a deal for Bambo Diaby.
The free agent defender has been training with Preston of late as he looks to make his return to the game.
Diaby, 24, joined Barnsley in 2019 having impressed in Belgium with Lokeren. Unfortunately for Diaby, he only managed 22 appearance for the Tykes.
The Senegal-born defender was handed a two-year ban for doping in 2020 having tested positive for higenamine.
Diaby tested positive in January 2020 but was banned in October 2020. The two-year ban was backdated, meaning Diaby’s ban expired on January 16th.
Now available to play for North End, Diaby has been impressing Ryan Lowe and is surely in line to sign after Storey’s loan move.
Add in that Van den Berg will be returning to Liverpool this summer and Preston need to have plans at right-sided centre back, with Diaby surely the man to come in now.