Preston North End financial demand made as Amr Zedan pushes to seal takeover | OneFootball

Paul Heckingbottom has spoken out on the Lilywhites' lack of spending over the years

Despite being in fourth position in the Championship table in early January, Preston North End's annual decline in form started a lot earlier than it has done in years gone by.

An FA Cup round three defeat at the hands of Wigan Athletic was the start of the Lilywhites' torrid run of form, and since a 2-0 victory on the road against Bristol City at the start of 2026, Paul Heckingbottom's side have won just twice in the Championship.

Heading into the final four matches of the campaign, PNE can't get into the play-offs and also cannot be relegated, meaning they are now just playing for pride and to impress Heckingbottom ahead of the 2026-27 season.

There are potentially exciting times ahead at Deepdale though, with the re-emergence of takeover talk Saudi-US businessman Amr Zedan - who had initially held talks with the club in January over potential investment - leading to his appearance at the Easter Monday draw with QPR.

Paul Heckingbottom makes Preston North End claim ahead of potential takeover

For many years, PNE have been small spenders in the grand scheme of things in the Championship, having waited 23 years to break their transfer record in 2023 when signing Milutin Osmajić from Cadiz, and it's perhaps that lack of investment in the market - albeit the Hemmings Family have always kept the club afloat - that has held the Lancashire outfit back from being a Premier League club.

Heckingbottom however has full belief that he can push North End to the very next level - providing he recieves a bit more funding from those at the top to spend on his squad depth.

“Yeah, look, it can't be done without more money,” Heckingbottom told BBC Lancashire.

“So probably this season we would be bottom of the league in terms of expenditure, wages and net spend. For us to be where we are, doing that, shows that - like I said to you guys at the beginning of the season - it's not about money.

“And that's not Preston not spending, that's just the landscape of the Championship now. I look at the teams coming up and Lincoln have done it in a great way - probably how we will have to do it in this league. But they'll spend more than us, probably, in the summer and make big improvements. That's the lay of the land.

“Now, how we do it is really, really important because we have to do it.

"So if we could, for example, get our wage bill middle of the road and, while we're accumulating that over the next couple of years, also be investing, strengthening and paying transfer fees at the middle of the road, then I think I could get us up challenging, definitely. That would be my aim.”

Amr Zedan investment could really give Preston North End a new lease of life

Even though Zedan's initial plans were to invest during the January transfer window, discussions did not materialise as planned, and it appears a full on takeover could now be in the works.

Zedan is no stranger to spending a decent amount of money in the world of sport, having been a big investor in Horse Racing for a number of years over in the United States, and having also been linked with a move for Chelsea a number of years ago before Todd Boehly purchased the Blues, it suggests he's got the money to make a difference at Deepdale.

Any investor of course needs to comply with the EFL's profit & sustainability rules, and for a club that is one of the lower earners in terms of commercial revenue in the Championship, PNE will have to find some new, creative ways to boost their finances to spend on new players without cashing in on their best assets.

If Zedan can push through his takeover deal before the summer transfer window opens, then things could be very bright for North End in the future, and Heckingbottom clearly believes that he's got the acumen to get the club into the top six of the Championship for the first time since 2009.