Preston North End set to gazump Charlton Athletic & QPR for Brighton transfer deal | OneFootball

The Brighton defender is edging closer to a move back to Lancashire.

Preston North End are set to sign Brighton & Hove Albion's Odeluga Offiah, who was also being looked at by Charlton Athletic and Queens Park Rangers.

The Championship pair have been in battle over a surprising number of transfer targets this summer.

Thierry Small left Charlton as a free agent in order to join the Lilywhites earlier in the window. Both clubs were also reported to be interested in Reading centre-half Amadou Mbengue, who has since signed for QPR.

Another battle for a defensive option has brewed since then.

Once again, Preston are set to come out on top, as they look set to secure the services of Brighton youngster Offiah, who was previously linked with the Addicks.

Preston North End set to beat Charlton to Brighton defender Odeluga Offiah

The 22-year-old is all set for a move to Deepdale, having opted to join them amid interest from Nathan Jones' side, according to journalist Richard Cawley.

Charlton and QPR's regard for the right-sided defender was reported by Cawley early in June, but they haven't been able to capitalise on his availability.

Offiah spent last season on loan with Blackpool in the third tier, and played against the Addicks on two occasions. The London-based side only took one point from those meetings with the Seasiders.

22-year-old Offiah made 40 appearances across the 2024/25 campaign for the Lancashire outfit, mostly as a right-back in the latter stages of it, helping Steve Bruce's side to keep 11 clean sheets.

The six-foot-two Englishman also has six Premier League appearances to his name.

He, presumably, could have acted as Small's replacement in Jones' system, but Preston are set to cause Charlton some more transfer pain with this move.

Unlike his spell at Bloomfield Road, Offiah will reportedly join North End on a permanent basis.

Blackpool boss Steve Bruce admitted that he would want to see the 22-year-old back in orange next season, but that was always going to be a tough ask given his performances in the previous campaign - he's now heading to their bitter rivals at the other end of the M55.

Odeluga Offiah has a lot of potential to blossom with Preston North End

This could be a very astute signing by Paul Heckingbottom. Offiah will bring a good level of physicality and versatility to his defence, which conceded 1.3 goals per game last season.

He was a really strong duel-winner for Blackpool, coming out on top of six of these contests a game at a success rate of 62 per cent, according to Sofascore.

This ability to win the ball back is also represented by his 3.5 recoveries per game and his 3.3 tackles and interceptions won per game in the previous campaign.

With just less than a year left on his Brighton deal, Preston will likely not have had to pay over the odds for Offiah in what is a signing with a lot of promise and upside.

And Offiah's imminent arrival at Deepdale could mean Thierry Small heads over to the opposite flank in a more natural left-sided position, as opposed to the right wing-back role he featured in more often than not for Charlton last season.