The Preston North End decision involving Alan Browne & Josh Brownhill that may have cost Lilywhites millions | OneFootball

Preston North End may still rue their decision involving Alan Browne and Josh Brownhill

Preston North End were riding high in 2015 after achieving promotion to the Championship - a place that they have been for 10 years since.

The Lilywhites ended their four-year absence from the second-tier after running out 4-0 victors over Swindon Town in that year's League One play-off final.

Manager Simon Grayson then turned his sights to the upcoming season and how to best prepare his squad for the new task at hand, and in his ranks, the PNE boss possessed two talented young midfielders.

Josh Brownhill and Alan Browne were both desperate to show what they could do in the Championship, but with operators such as Paul Gallagher, John Welsh and Ben Pearson in the squad, opportunities were limited.

Grayson had a choice to make between Brownhill and Browne, ultimately deciding to prioritise the latter’s development - but that may have cost the Lilywhites several million pounds in the process.

Josh Brownhill proved Simon Grayson wrong following Preston North End exit

Having been dropped by Man United, as a 16-year-old, Brownhill was picked up by PNE in 2012, and a year later he'd made his first-team debut for the Lilywhites, and got on the scoresheet for the very first time 11 days later in a League One clash with Gillingham.

The teenager would play 30 times in all competitions in 2013-14, but in January 2014, Browne would join from Cork City, and as he was gradually introduced to the first-team by Grayson, it was the Irishman who would appear 22 times to Brownhill's 18 in league action in the promotion-winning 2014-15 campaign.

Browne had well and truly made his mark by the time North End were settled in the Championship, and after making just three league appearances for North End come January, Brownhill was loaned to League One outfit Barnsley.

At Oakwell, the young midfielder excelled and relished the chance to play regular football once more, featuring 27 times for the Tykes in what was a hugely successful spell, winning the EFL trophy plus the 2016 League One play-off final.

That summer, Brownhill rejected a contract extension at Deepdale, which was offered to him off the back of his performances in South Yorkshire, and instead he joined Bristol City on a free transfer, albeit they had to pay youth compensation for his services.

It proved to be a smart pickup for the Robins, as the next few years saw the former North End prospect go from strength to strength, emerging as one of the Championship’s standout stars, and a flying first half of the 2019/20 campaign was enough to tempt Premier League outfit Burnley into commissioning a deal for Brownhill’s services in January 2020.

The Clarets forked out a £9 million fee for the midfielder, which resulted in plenty of profit for Bristol City - albeit North End did get an undisclosed sum through a sell-on fee that was included in the compensation package to take him to Ashton Gate in the first place.

Regardless of the sell-on though, the £9 million transfer would’ve been a tough blow for North End to take, with fees in that region potentially era-defining for a club in their situation.

Adding insult to injury, Browne would also leave Deepdale for free four-and-a-half years later in 2024 - at his peak in the 2018-19 season, where he scored 12 times from midfield, he too was probably worth around what Brownhill went to Burnley for.

It’s hard to say that Grayson made the wrong choice, given the fact that Browne would make over 400 appearances for the Lilywhites, but it could be argued that PNE’s boss might have been better off addressing the situation slightly differently at the time.

Simon Grayson could have built Preston North End’s midfield around Josh Brownhill and Alan Browne

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and an ability Grayson would surely have wished to possess in this scenario.

Instead of selecting one young prospect over the other, he could’ve tried to balance their playing time to keep both players at the club.

Given how both midfielders progressed later in their respective careers, North End would’ve enjoyed one of the best engine rooms in the Championship, but at the time, the likes of Ben Pearson, Daniel Johnson and Paul Gallagher were really strong operators - it was an embarrasment of riches.

The resultant years saw PNE come close to achieving play-off football, and if they enjoyed Brownhill’s presence in their midfield, may have gotten over the line.

Alternatively, they could have inherited the £9 million windfall that Bristol City received and used that money to boost their squad.

Therefore, Brownhill exiting the club is one thing that North End and Grayson may look back on and regret - it could've all gone a lot more different.