Preston North End should move fast for recently released Leicester City star | OneFootball

Preston should bolster their attacking ranks by bringing in released Leicester forward for £0

Goals have been hard to come by for Preston North End in the last two seasons.

In 2024/25, Paul Heckingbottom’s men finished 20th in the Championship table – their lowest finish since promotion in 2015 – and scored 48 goals. This was a tally matched by bottom side Cardiff City and eclipsed by relegated Plymouth Argyle.

Last season was better, with North End climbing to 14th in the division, but their goal record was still sub-average. They scored 55, while relegated Leicester City, who finished nine places lower in the table, managed 58.

Last season, three of PNE’s four top scorers in the Championship were at the club on a temporary basis from Premier League sides. If they are to further climb the table in 2026/27, then Heckingbottom will need to replace these losses and bulk up the club’s forward line.

Preston set to go into the summer window with just two strikers

Of the 55 goals scored by Preston in last season's Championship, a combined 24 were scored by three players who were only playing for the club on loan. Aston Villa’s Lewis Dobbin bagged 10, with eight assists, Tottenham’s Alfie Devine managed eight, with six assists and Bournemouth’s Daniel Jebbison scored six.

All three men departed the club after the end of the season, with Alan Nixon reporting that PNE are keen to bring Devine back to Deepdale on a permanent basis for what would be a record transfer fee.

Even if that move does materialise, Devine is not a striker, but an attacking midfielder.

On their website, the club recently announced that experienced striker Will Keane would be departing the club at the end of his current contract, as well as once-promising young forward Felipe Rodriguez-Gentile.

This would leave the Lilywhites with two out-and-out strikers on their books going into the summer – 34-year-old Michael Smith, who scored just three times in 2025/26, and the controversial Milutin Osmajic, who missed 12 games in the league last season due to suspension.

Whether they fork out the cash for Devine or not, it’s clear that the Preston hierarchy will need to expand their list of options to play in the final third of the pitch.

One way to do that might be to target a player with Championship experience who has just left a rival club.

Leicester City to release multi-time international forward ahead of the summer

Leicester recently announced who would be departing the club upon the expiry of their contracts following the Foxes’ relegation from the Championship in 2025/26.

Alongside club captain and FA Cup winner Ricardo Pereira, defender Jamal Lascelles, and forward Jordan Ayew, Zambian striker Patson Daka is headed for the exit door at the King Power Stadium.

Daka, 27, joined Leicester in 2021, immediately following their FA Cup triumph, and made his debut in their subsequent Community Shield win over Premier League champions Manchester City.

He would also go on to be a consistent feature for the club as they won the Championship title in the 2023/24 season.

Prior to his move to England, he familiarised himself with trophies at Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga, where he was a four-time champion. He has also featured for his country 43 times, scoring 18 in the process.

When Preston visited the King Power Stadium in early April, they would have been expecting to take maximum points away from the relegation-threatened Foxes, just as they had at Deepdale in their third match of the season. Daka had other plans.

He scored two against the Lilywhites, first capitalising on a woeful Andy Moran back pass, and then tying up the game in the 81st minute with a fine first-time strike from the edge of the box.

Daka could add some fee-free firepower to Preston's forward line

Not only has the Zambian averaged a goal contribution every two full games at Leicester, but he has attained this record whilst featuring for a side who suffered three relegations during his five-year stint.

Even last season, as Leicester sunk to second bottom in the Championship table, he scored on five occasions. The only PNE player who remains under contract at Deepdale to outscore him last time out was Osmajic.

Of the three Leicester players who bagged more than Daka last season, one was promising Rennes loanee Jordan James, and the other two, Ayew and Abdul Fatawu, both played more games than he did.

What might tempt PNE even more to enquire about his services is his price tag.

Of the 16 new arrivals to Deepdale throughout the 2025/26 campaign, only four came with a price tag above £0.

Alongside Smith, Jordan Thompson, Thierry Small, Pol Valentin and Daniel Iversen were all permanent new arrivals to the club for free, and all came from teams who wound up playing against Preston in the Championship last season.

Iversen, who recently won the club’s Sir Tom Finney Player of the Year and Player’s Player of the Year awards, even came from Leicester City!

Daka’s release from Leicester has been public news for a week now, but despite reports in March from Turkish outlet Aspor linking him to Galatasaray, no formal offer for his services appears to have been made at this stage.

With Preston sustaining a promotion push right up until January last season before a run of just six goals in 12 matches, more potential goal sources could only be a good thing if they want to take those ambitions further next season, especially given the division's new extended play-off format.