Watford FC evidence suggests Preston North End have work to do still in the transfer window | OneFootball

Preston North End have finally begun to address a glaring hole in their squad depth ahead of the transfer window, but will it be enough?

Preston North End have finally begun to address a glaring hole in their squad depth ahead of the official start date of the summer transfer window.

Having already picked up all of Jordan Thompson, Daniel Iversen, Pol Valentin and Thierry Small on free transfers, Paul Heckingbottom has dipped into the loan market to reinforce his forward line. Bournemouth hopeful Daniel Jebbison is set to join the club on July 7th.

The Canadian international is just 21 years old and has already contributed to a few significant games in his sporadic outings for the Cherries. He memorably notched one at the Etihad in a 3-1 defeat in May, and he scored to help his side into the FA Cup 5th round as they beat Everton 2-0.

However, his game time has not been consistent in the top tier, and if his record in the Championship whilst on loan at Watford throughout the first half of 2024/25 is anything to go by, Preston will need to continue their shopping spree for strikers this coming summer.

Jebbison’s time at Watford left plenty to be desired

Bournemouth’s front line last season was probably the best thing about their squad. They had the likes of Evanilson, Enes Unal. Justin Kluivert, Antoine Semenyo, Dango Ouattara and Luis Sinisterra all starred for them. That left little room for development for prospect Jebbison.

As a result, the striker was sent on loan to the Championship to cut his teeth and arrived at Vicarage Road in late August, described by then-coach Tom Cleverly to the Watford Observer as a player with "a real ‘threat-in-behind’ pace, and he’s fearless".

That might’ve been true on the training ground, but there was little evidence on the pitch to suggest as much.

From a combined 380 minutes of play across 13 Championship games, Jebbison failed to make a single goal contribution to the Hornets. Worse still, eight of those games were ones that Watford failed to win, with seven of them being outright losses.

Without goals from their 6’3" Premier League loanee up top, Watford were failing to win matches you would expect them to win, as they fell to defeat against eventually relegated sides Luton Town and Cardiff City.

Fans were more than content to see Jebbison depart Vicarage Road

His time at Vicarage Road was one that did not impress from a stats' perspective, and he was even less impressive to the club’s fan base. FLW’s resident Watford fan pundit Justin Beattie described the forward as “largely ineffective”, before stating: “I don’t think we’ll ever remember anything about Daniel Jebbison, simply because he didn’t do anything.”

Beattie wasn’t the only Watford fan upset by Jebbison’s conduct during his time with the club. Per the Watford Observer, a handful of the Hornets’ faithful were quick to call out Jebbison after he allegedly liked an Instagram post by former club Sheffield United announcing their 2-1 victory against Watford in early January, and commented on game-winner Andre Brooks’ celebratory post on the site.

One fan wrote, “We are still paying Jebbison’s wages, and he’s out here celebrating the Sheffield United win”; a second called it “disgraceful, I don’t care if he played for them”, and a third simply asked his team to “Get Jebbison gone”.

Just four days after this social media controversy, Jebbison was recalled by Bournemouth. Following his return to the Vitality Stadium, per the Lancashire Evening Post, the Canadian said to Alex Smith of the Daily Echo: “What happened, I'm not amongst that anymore... I'm past it, moving on, growing as a player and just looking forward.”

Clearly, this move was a failed one – it did nothing for Jebbison’s standing as a player who can make it in the Championship, and neither he nor the club came away from the endeavour with very fond memories.

PNE are crying out for consistency; Jebbison is a risk that might not pay off

Jebbison will be linking back up with old Blades boss Paul Heckingbottom at Deepdale, and it may be a blessing that the Preston gaffer has worked with the forward before, and will know his strengths and weaknesses better.

Again, speaking to the LEP, Alex Smith said of Jebbison’s attributes that: “I think he (is) actually very good in the press - a lot of energy up front, which is good. He's a tall bloke and can use his height relatively well. He (is) pretty good with a bit more ball-at-his-feet type thing, and running at defenders.”

The ability to press is something that Preston fans will want from their forward players, given how defensive the club’s football has been for the last few years, but what they will also want is a proven Championship goalscorer, who will be at the club for longer than a year.

PNE fans fell in love with Premier League loanees like Cameron Archer and Tom Cannon during six-month spells in recent seasons. Jebbison may be another name to add to this list, but what he has already produced at Championship level will not fill fans with confidence.

Even if he does set the world on fire at Deepdale, he will only be doing so for 12 months, which means the club will be right back where they are now without a permanent import up front.

Added to this, the consistency of the Lilywhites’ strikeforce in the last four years has been nearly non-existent. Their most effective goal threat during that timeframe was recently departed Danish striker Emil Riis, who was the club’s top scorer in 2021/22 with 20 strikes, but only managed five the next season, albeit whilst nursing an injury in the latter stages.

North End’s top scorer in 2022/23, Ched Evans, saw his tally drop from nine to zero in 2023/24; in that season, Will Keane bagged 13, before managing just four last campaign. It remains to be seen if Milutin Osmajic (15 in all competitions last season) will follow this trend, but whether PNE can rely on a player who missed eight games last season for biting another player is up for debate.

All that is to say, if Osmajic can not recreate his goal-getting habits from last season, then who will Preston turn to? Right now, Jebbison is the best option almost by default – Keane is past his peak at 32 years old, and Evans has now moved completely into a coaching role.

But, if the new man can’t shake his second-tier blues that he suffered at Watford in 2024/25, North End will absolutely need more firepower to improve on last season’s flirting with relegation.