Not just Tom Cannon: Preston North End could rue letting Oxford & Middlesbrough swoop for Deepdale favourites | OneFootball

Preston North End have strengthened well this summer, but so have their rivals - by bringing in some former PNE faces

With the end of the summer transfer window, Preston North End fans will have to get used to a handful of new faces who will be representing their side.

All in all, Paul Heckingbottom has made 12 new additions to the first team over the summer. The latest import is 18-year-old Everton midfielder Harrison Armstrong; a deadline day signing that PNE were chasing for weeks, with Alan Nixon first reporting that the Lilywhites were interested in the prospect in mid-August.

However, there were rumblings that PNE were also reaching out to a former fan favourite loanee on deadline day for another temporary stint, but that never materialised – one of many former Deepdale heroes that were contenders for moves this summer, but none were back to PR1.

Preston missed out on Callum Robinson and then Tom Cannon

FLW’s PNE fan pundit Darren Watson has previously shone a light on the club’s perceived lack of depth in front of goal heading into the new season.

Without hot property Milutin Osmajic – as North End were due to a rib issue last time out against Portsmouth (their first league defeat of the season), their firepower consists of ageing strikers Michael Smith, the currently injured Will Keane, and last-season Watford flop Daniel Jebbison.

On deadline day, Heckingbottom was seeking to rectify this problem by bringing Tom Cannon back to Deepdale from Sheffield United on a temporary basis, per Alan Nixon.

Things haven’t gone to plan for the Republic of Ireland international since his £10m January move to the Blades. He’s only scored once in the Steel City, but he has proven he knows where the net is at Championship level, both for Preston and Stoke City.

In the second half of 2022/23 for PNE, Cannon scored eight times and made one assist in 20 league fixtures, including one memorable strike in a heated 3-1 derby victory over arch-rivals Blackpool.

Then, in the first half of 2024/25, the 22-year-old bagged a further 11 in all competitions from 25 games in all competitions for the Potters, prompting Chris Wilder to bring him to Bramall Lane at the turn of the year.

With Cannon having fallen behind Tyrese Campbell in the United pecking order, a second loan spell at Deepdale could’ve been the tonic the forward needs right now and could’ve massively aided PNE’s striker woes.

Whilst both parties will be gutted to some extent that nothing came of these reports, the striker situation for North End could have been resolved much earlier in the window if there were any developments on their reported chase of Cardiff City’s Callum Robinson.

All the way back in June, the Irish Examiner reported that Robinson was on the Lancashire side’s radar. The current Bluebirds’ striker has previously contributed to 62 goals in 160 matches across two loans and one contracted spell for Preston between 2014 and 2019.

He struck a chord with fans during his time at Deepdale, to the point where FLW’s Darren Watson called a potential return this summer a "no-brainer", and reiterated that “Preston fans love Callum Robinson and want him back at the club”.

But it never came to pass, and Robinson has remained at relegated Cardiff.

Ben Davies and Alan Browne join Preston's rivals

Whilst Cannon and Robinson never secured moves away from their current teams, the same cannot be said for former PNE and current Rangers defender Ben Davies.

Oxford United, currently in their second season of Championship football, have brought the 30-year-old in on loan for the 2025/26 campaign after he showed his worth as a key part of Birmingham City’s record-breaking League One title win last season whilst on loan at St Andrew’s.

He spent eight years in the North End senior side after graduating from their youth system, made 145 competitive appearances for the club, and was their Player’s Player and Fan’s Player of the Year for his efforts at Deepdale in the 2018/19 campaign.

Preston have reinforced their back line this summer, but all of Pol Valentin, Thierry Small and Andrija Vukcevic are out-and-out full-backs or wing-backs.

Davies, like summer import Odel Offiah, has more experience as a central defender, and could very easily have provided depth, strength and competition to the likes of Jordan Storey, Lewis Gibson and Liam Lindsay if Heckingbottom had any designs on a potential return for the former Liverpool man.

Another former Lilywhite who won the club’s Player’s Player and Fan’s Player of the Year awards in the same season, and who has recently left his current club on a temporary deal, is former captain Alan Browne.

The Irishman needs no introduction to Preston fans, with 414 competitive appearances and 72 goal contributions to his name from more than a decade at Deepdale. He departed on a free to Sunderland ahead of 2024/25, where he was a bit-part player in Regis Le Bris’ promotion-winning side.

With the Black Cats preferring Habib Diarra, Noah Sadiki and new captain Granit Xhaka as their midfield trio, Browne has been allowed to make a Championship return on loan – but Deepdale was never a speculated destination.

Instead, he has swapped Tyneside for Teesside, joining Middlesbrough, and, in a twist of fate, could well make his debut for Rob Edwards’ men in their first game back from the international break – away at Preston.

In his first interview for Middlesbrough, Browne did call his time at Preston “brilliant” and “life-changing”, and The Northern Echo did speculate that there was “plenty of Championship interest in Browne”, but didn’t name any potential suitors beyond Boro.

His former club’s midfield has grown stronger this summer, with Jordan Thompson a like-for-like replacement for the departed Ryan Ledson, and both Armstrong and Alfie Devine on loan from Premier League outfits Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, respectively.

Perhaps it would be too soon for a romantic return to Deepdale for Browne, given that he’s only been gone a year. But he still has plenty to offer at 30 years old, and he knows the club probably better than any of the current squad do. It wouldn’t have been a waste for Preston to at least ask the question.

Whatever the case for these old faces, Preston have strengthened adequately this summer, and their start to the season shows that. They’ve won two matches in four, both against sides who were just relegated from the Premier League in Leicester City and Ipswich Town.

Despite being short on numbers in their forward line, there has been plenty to enjoy thus far for North End fans. But they still need to pull no punches – the teams around them have strengthened too, and PNE will be coming up against some very familiar opponents as the campaign continues.

Should they "get one over" their former employers, it might leave Preston rueing not exploring getting the band back together.