Blackburn Rovers may have Preston North End transfer chiefs regretting decision | OneFootball

Preston North End could seriously regret letting Blackburn Rovers secure this deal

Preston North End may feel serious regret over letting this transfer slip through their fingers.

The Lilywhites were tipped by many to struggle this season, due to their battle with relegation last term which almost saw them slip into League One.

Promoted sides Birmingham City and Wrexham arrived with big reputations, which means that there were fewer teams predicted to be battling relegation.

North End made a number of signings during the summer window, but failed to recruit a perfect replacement for Emil Riis, which left fans fearing that a lack of goals could come back to bite them during the season.

That hasn’t proven to be the case, with Paul Heckingbottom’s side sat fifth in the table having played 18 matches. Preston have picked up points in 14 of their first 18 matches, which is a record bettered by just Middlesbrough and Coventry City.

However, striker Milutin Osmajic was recently hit with a nine-match ban, which could see PNE struggle to score in his absence. This may even lead to some regret creeping in about one particular transfer they missed out on in the summer.

Preston North End may look on regretfully at Blackburn Rovers transfer

During the summer window, Preston North End explored a number of potential avenues to try and reinforce their striking department after letting go of Riis and Ched Evans.

These included last-gasp moves for Tom Cannon and David Datro Fofana, but neither player ended up moving to Deepdale.

Another forward PNE were strongly linked to was Andri Gudjohnsen. The son of former Bolton Wanderers and Chelsea legend Eidur, Preston reportedly negotiated both permanent and temporary switches for Andri but couldn’t strike a deal with Gent.

Eventually, it was Lancashire rivals Blackburn Rovers that secured the striker’s signature, which may be an opportunity North End regret letting the Ewood Park outfit have now.

After a slow start to the season, Gudjohnsen has burst into life recently. He has scored six goals in his last nine Championship outings, which include a brace against Leicester City and a winner versus PNE.

At just 23 years of age, Preston could already feel a fair bit of regret over the decision not to pursue a transfer for Gudjohnsen. He has plenty of time to grow even further as a forward, which is a scary prospect when considering what his current goal record looks like.

Without Osmajic in the team, Preston are in need of a consistent source of goals which both Daniel Jebbison and Michael Smith haven’t proven to be as of yet. Will Keane has been out of action the entire season with injury, which means that Gudjohnsen would slot into Heckingbottom’s side perfectly right now.

However, that is a chance PNE passed up on and will potentially only grow further regret as they watch Gudjohnsen develop at Ewood Park.

Andri Gudjohnsen could’ve given Preston North End the extra edge in play-off hunt

The 2025/26 Championship has been extremely compact, with not much separating the teams fighting in the top six to those at the bottom of the division.

This has allowed sides who usually struggle to compete for promotion an opportunity to get that chance, which is a category Preston falls into.

With such fine margins currently deciding who will earn the right to operate out of the Premier League, having Gudjohnsen at their disposal would’ve massively helped Preston North End at this stage in the season.

With Osmajic gone, having another striker who could provide a healthy source of goals in his absence would’ve ensured that PNE lost none of their competitiveness.

The 23-year-old also has time to develop into a much more valuable asset, which would’ve allowed Preston to sell him on for profit in the future, which is crucial for a side in their current position.

If North End do just miss out on a top-six finish at the end of the season, they may reflect on the decision to let Gudjohnsen leave as an extremely costly one, especially as it has also helped strengthen one of their local rivals in the process.