Preston North End must push for Man Utd transfer - it worked with Alvaro Carreras | OneFootball

North End should utilise their past loan links to Man United in a bid to bolster their strike-force in January

As far as summer transfer windows go, Preston North End's must be seen as a real success in their biggest change for a number of years.

It's fair to say that things at Deepdale had gone somewhat stale, with the nucleus of their squad being incredibly long-serving and loyal.

Yet, a 20th-place finish in the 2024-25 Championship season meant change was necessary, and prior to the final few matches of that campaign, manager Paul Heckingbottom claimed he'd "throw a bomb" under his entire squad in order to construct a complete rebuild.

Whilst it didn't quite happen like that, some 12 new faces arrived at Deepdale over the course of the summer, whilst 10 moved on to pastures new, including the likes of Ryan Ledson, Emil Riis and Patrick Bauer - all of who had been at the club for at least five years.

There is a fresh, younger new look to North End's squad now under Heckingbottom, but perhaps the only disappointment was that despite chasing a marquee striker throughout the campaign, with the likes of Richard Kone linked earlier in the summer, the Lilywhites weren't able to add that headline centre-forward to accompany Milutin Osmajic, who has started the season with three league goals in as many games.

Michael Smith, Daniel Jebbison and Lewis Dobbin did all arrive, the latter pair on loan deals, but none of the trio would stand out as a replacement for Bristol City-bound Riis - Smith is now 33 and will probably be a rotational player, Jebbison's Championship record is poor in-front of goal, whilst Dobbin isn't an out-and-out striker.

A late play for Tom Cannon to return to Deepdale from Sheffield United didn't happen in the end, and it means that fans will likely be looking towards January already with the hopes that a new striker will be arriving should the budget allow it.

And there's perhaps one young centre-forward who plies his trade not far from the Lancashire outfit that should be on Heckingbottom's radar already

Preston North End should be eyeing up Chido Obi loan ahead of January

That striker is Man United teenager Chido Obi, who has certainly built himself up a strong reputation in England since his move over from his native Denmark in 2022.

First arriving at Arsenal that year from Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, Obi first came upon radars in the 2023-24 season - which he started as a 15-year-old - and with 32 goals scored in 18 matches, including a seven-goal haul against Norwich City and five goals in one match against West Ham, his reputation was sky-rocketing.

A brave move was made from the Gunners to Man United, and PNE's under-18's saw first-hand in 2024-25 what Obi was about, netting twice in a 5-2 FA Youth Cup victory back in January, but his general form at youth level for the Red Devils saw him handed a first-team debut by Ruben Amorim a month later, with seven Premier League outings earned before the end of the season.

United though splashed the cash on new forwards this summer, with Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo all arriving at Old Trafford, and even with Rasmus Hojland departing for Napoli, it leaves little to no room for Obi - now 17 years of age - to get any first-team minutes, especially with no cup football now until January.

For now, Obi will play for United's under-21's, and he's got off to a strong start this season with goals against Norwich City and Man City, but when the 2025-26 campaign approaches the January transfer window and the striker becomes an 18-year-old, it may be time for the Scandinavian to get some first-team minutes elsewhere.

North End have young strikers of their own of course, and it remains to be seen how Jebbison and Dobbin (despite being more of a winger naturally) do in the next few months, but neither player's Championship record instills confidence - even if Dobbin has struck twice in all competitions so far in just three matches.

There is also new Irish recruit Shay Reid who has arrived from Cliftonville in the summer, and whilst there is hype for him, you get the feeling he won't be ready for a while, and then there is Felipe Rodriguez-Gentile, who simply hasn't developed as hoped - both in goalscoring prowess and in height.

It will therefore make perfect sense if North End make a move for 6ft 2in striker Obi and set the wheels in motion prior to the transfer window opening - and United don't need to look far to see how well PNE have done with past United players and developed them.

Álvaro Carreras evidence shows that Preston North End could be perfect for Chido Obi

Soccer Football - Primeira Liga - SC Farense v Benfica - Estadio Algarve, Algarve, Portugal - November 2, 2024 Benfica's Alvaro Carreras celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Pedro Nunes

It was only three seasons ago when PNE and Man United struck up a deal to send young Spanish left-back Álvaro Carreras up the M61 and to Deepdale for the 2022-23 season, in a bid to show him what the rigours of EFL football was like.

PNE were managed by Ryan Lowe at the time, and having won United's reserve team Player of the Year for 2021-22, big things were expected - and Carreras (then known as Fernandez) did not disappoint.

Carreras bagged six Championship assists for PNE and dazzled down the left flank as a wing-back, appearing 39 times in the league and the majority of those were starts.

Instead of keeping Carreras at Old Trafford beyond his sucessful stint at Deepdale, Man United instead loaned him out to Granada of La Liga for the following season, and then in 2024 sold him to Portuguese giants Benfica for a total fee of £7.7 million - perhaps not quite knowing what was to come.

Carreras spent just one year in Lisbon before he was on the move again, but this was a big one, as he secured himself a £43.2 million switch to one of the sport's global giants in the form of Real Madrid, where he has already secured himself a starting spot under Xabi Alonso.

United never got to see Carreras perform for them as they decided to discard him instead, but it's clear to see that PNE played a huge part in his rapid development - they could do the same for Obi if given the chance, and not only should the powers-that-be at Old Trafford recognise that, but North End's hierarchy should be making overtures towards the Dane sooner rather than later.