Preston may be in the market for a new striker this summer, and a couple of names have already been linked.
One of them is Rochdale attacker Stephen Humphrys, as The72 reported last month that North End are in the race to sign him.
They claimed that Preston were battling Blackburn Rovers, Bristol City, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke City in the race for the 23-year-old.
The72 now add to their initial report, this time suggesting that Stoke have made the first move by approaching Rochdale.
The Potters seemingly don’t want to miss out, and are moving quickly to try and bring Humphrys to the bet365 Stadium this summer.
Humphrys has hit 11 goals for Rochdale in an impressive personal campaign this season, but the Dale have now suffered relegation to League Two.
With Humphrys attracting major interest from Championship clubs, it seems almost impossible to imagine that he will be turning out for Rochdale in the fourth tier.
Preston may well have been impressed with his displays under ex-North Ender Brian Barry-Murphy, but will now have to move quickly if they want to beat Stoke to his signature.