Preston North End will always regret £2m misfire - Coventry City stole Lilywhites' millions | OneFootball

Tom Bayliss signed for Preston North End from Coventry City, but he would ultimately flop at the Lilywhites.

Tom Bayliss made the move from Coventry City to Preston North End in August 2019 after a solid season in League One for the Sky Blues, but the move did not go to plan for either party.

Having come through the academy at Coventry, Bayliss made his professional debut for the Sky Blues in November 2017, and after making his league debut in December of the same year with the club in League Two, he fully integrated himself into the side.

Bayliss made 24 appearances in his first professional campaign, scoring five goals and grabbing two assists as he helped his boyhood club achieve promotion to League One under the guidance of ex-manager Mark Robins.

He would remain a regular in the side in his maiden season in the third tier, making 38 league appearances, scoring three times and grabbing three assists, attracting the interest of other clubs around the country and in the tier above.

Preston made an offer of around £2 million to sign Bayliss from Coventry, which was accepted, and the midfielder was on his way to Deepdale to play in the Championship, in what was a sharp upwards trajectory since making his debut just two years earlier.

Tom Bayliss arrived at Preston North End with a lot of potential, but the move would backfire

Bayliss, then still just 20 years old, signed a four-year deal in Lancashire and was seen as the future of the Lilywhites' midfield upon his arrival.

However, Bayliss endured a nightmare first campaign upon his move to Lancashire.

Competition in manager Alex Neil's midfield was strong when Bayliss arrived, having to compete with the likes of Ben Pearson, Paul Gallagher, Allan Brown, Ryan Ledson and Daniel Johnson for a place not just in the starting 11, but the entire matchday squad.

He made just one appearance in the 2019/20 Championship campaign, coming in a 15-minute cameo in the final game of the season, unable to break into the Lilywhites' midfield, whilst an ankle injury also kept him out for a sustained period of time.

The following season was slightly more promising for Bayliss, having scored once in 11 league appearances. However, those appearances were largely restricted to ones from the bench, and he played just 253 minutes of league football all season - less than three full matches.

Bayliss failed to make a single league appearance for Preston in the season that followed, heading out on loan to Wigan Athletic in League One for the remainder of the 2021/22 campaign when he was getting no look-in under first Frankie McAvoy and then Ryan Lowe.

Upon his return to the club following his loan expiry, Bayliss, with one year still left on his deal with Preston, requested his contract to be terminated, allowing him to search for a fresh start elsewhere - something which Preston obliged to despite paying seven figures just three years prior.

He'd leave the club having made just 12 league appearances in three years, with only 268 total minutes of Championship football under his belt, costing the club roughly £166k per league appearance.

Tom Bayliss has since become a solid League One player, but Preston North End disappointment remains

Following the termination of his Preston deal, Bayliss has since forged a successful career in the English third tier, joining Shrewsbury Town on a two-year deal, where he'd make 81 appearances in two seasons, scoring ten and assisting nine before leaving the club at the end of his deal.

He'd then join Lincoln City, where he plays today, and is a regular fixture in the side at Sincil Bank, having made 34 league appearances for the Imps in the 2024/25 season, and looks likely to be a regular during the 2025/26 campaign.

In total, Bayliss has made over 160 appearances in League One to date, whilst only 12 in the Championship, with many of those appearances coming from the bench.

Whether Bayliss will ever earn another shot at second-tier level remains to be seen, but he has forged a successful career for himself in the English third division, where he looks at home.

Both he and Preston will likely forever regret the deal that brought him from the CBS Arena to Deepdale, where Bayliss lost three years of development time and Preston £2 million, which they will never get back - for a player that was linked to both Liverpool and Everton a few months prior to his Deepdale switch, he just never lived up to the potential.