Preston North End must avoid transfer panic - they know what they need in August | OneFootball

Preston North End have recruited very well so far this summer, but their forward line still needs work with the new Championship season closing in.

Paul Heckingbottom has recruited mostly very well in his first summer transfer window as Preston North End manager.

When the club released their retained list, there were obvious gaps to fill in goal, at full-back and up front. North End were quick to act on almost all of these issues. They have recruited two goalkeepers with EFL experience, and have added three new full-backs to their ranks, two of whom have come straight from other teams who they will face in the Championship in 2025/26.

However, one problem that has yet to be completely solved is that of the club’s attack. It wasn’t all that uncommon to see Heckingbottom run with two strikers on the pitch last season, but that may not be possible at times in the coming campaign if they don’t add to their current pool of potential goalscorers.

Preston haven’t massively strengthened their already weak frontline so far this summer

Last season’s top scorer for the Lilywhites in all competitions, Emil Riis, was allowed to depart the club at the end of his contract following the conclusion of the 2024/25 season. He has since joined a Championship rival to his now-former club, Bristol City.

Both he and former Liverpool prospect Layton Stewart were allowed to depart the club on a permanent basis, and Leeds United loanee Sam Greenwood returned to his parent club in May.

This meant that, at the start of the transfer window, Preston only had three senior recognised strikers on their books – the controversial Milutin Osmajic, veteran Will Keane, and player-coach Ched Evans.

We are now right on the fringes of August, the new Championship season is upon us, and Preston’s attacking threat has not improved all that drastically. Evans has since left the club to keep his playing career going at Fleetwood Town, and Will Keane has been a subject of interest for League One side Bolton Wanderers, according to Alan Nixon.

They have brought in some reinforcements – few are as experienced in the EFL at this stage as Michael Smith, who has scored 127 goals and made 40 assists across 15 seasons in the pyramid, per FBref.

However, he is slowing down now at 33 years of age, and he scored just eight in all competitions last season for Sheffield Wednesday – much less than Osmajic (15) and Riis (12), and just one more than Greenwood for North End.

Another new name in the door is Daniel Jebbison, who has joined the club on a temporary basis from Premier League side Bournemouth. At just 21 years old and with plenty to prove to his parent club and other potential suitors, he is much more likely to start than Smith, or even Keane. However, he has played on loan for a Championship side before, and it did not go so well.

Last season, Jebbison was on loan from the Cherries at Watford until January. It was largely seen as a disaster, so much so that FLW’s own Watford fan pundit, Justin Beattie, described the move as "a mistake”, and suggested that he and other Hornets’ fans would never remember his stint at Vicarage Road. The saving grace here is that he's played under Heckingbottom at Sheffield United and done well for him.

Preston have recruited very well in almost every other area of the pitch

So here we are, with less than a week to go until the first game away at QPR, and PNE’s frontline now reads like this: the controversial Osmajic, potentially on-the-outs Keane, ageing and unlikely-to-start Smith, and unproven Watford flop Jebbison.

What will potentially frustrate some fans even more about this situation is just how well North End have done with their other imports.

To fill the gap left by now-Liverpool player Freddie Woodman, between the sticks, Daniel Iversen returned to Deepdale for free, having previously been on loan at Preston. He was a fan favourite during his time in the North West, and won the club’s Player of the Year award for 2021/22.

Similarly, Jack Walton has recently added depth to that area after an impressive loan spell with Dundee United in Scotland, and he will provide much more competition to Iversen than 34-year-old Dai Cornell.

As for wing-backs, PNE have worked smart, bringing in all of Pol Valentin, Thierry Small and Andrija Vukcevic for free, as well as importing Odel Offiah from Brighton for a seven-figure sum. All of Valentin, Small and Offiah were regular features in the EFL last campaign, for Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton Athletic, and Blackpool, respectively.

Last but not least, there’s former Stoke City midfielder Jordan Thompson, who was Heckingbottom’s first signing of the window. He has played over 150 times in the Championship for the Potters, and almost perfectly fills the hole that Ryan Ledson created after his departure from Deepdale.

Without more depth up top, Preston might really struggle for goals this season

In 2024/25, PNE recorded their worst Championship finish since their promotion in 2015. They came 20th in the table, scoring 48 goals in total – the same as bottom side Cardiff City, and three less than second-bottom Plymouth Argyle. Additionally, they outright failed to score in 11 league matches.

This was despite the club running with two strikers more often than not. Riis made 45 appearances in the league last season, Greenwood made 38, Osmajic made 34, and Keane made 27. If they want to do the same again in 2025/26, then they are going to need more options.

And that goes double when you consider that Osmajic – the Lilywhites’ top scorer in all competitions last season – underwent an eight-game ban for biting Blackburn’s Owen Beck during a game in September.

Sky Sports also reported that the FA statement about this incident included a £15,000 fine for the Montenegrin. All it would take is another incident like that resulting in one forward player being banned to see North End’s options up top look very slim indeed.

Even if nothing as severe as that were to happen, there are always injury and fitness concerns to watch out for, especially given that both Keane (if he stays) and Smith are the wrong side of 32.

Plus, it’s not completely out of the question that loanee Jebbison might not be able to redeem himself after his lacklustre Watford spell. If he is PNE’s only big swing of the window, and he is a miss, that would be damning to their prospects.

Preston have been quite heavily linked with Portsmouth’s Callum Lang recently, who scored 10 goals from 32 Championship games last season. But, Pompey manager John Mousinho has done his best to put the kibosh on those rumours earlier this week, according to BBC Sport, via BBC Radio Solent.

There is also plenty of talk that PNE are interested in Cliftonville youngster Shay Reid – another forward who the Belfast Telegraph has reported was impressive whilst on trial with the Preston Academy.

Looking at what they need right now, with the start of the season right around the corner, both players joining the club would be more than welcome. But even just one more addition to the attack could go a really long way for Paul Heckingbottom’s men.