Preston North End should launch move to sign ex-Ipswich Town & Portsmouth man - Alfie Devine could prove key | OneFootball

With the Lilywhites still lacking another option at the top end of the pitch, could Dane Scarlett be that man in January?

After an uncharacteristically disappointing 2024-25 Championship season, Preston North End are back to what they have done plenty of times since 2015 - battling above their budget to be in the mix of the play-offs.

Since they returned to the second tier over 10 years ago, the Lilywhites have never quite managed to finish in the top six, but they've made several pushes for it under the likes of Alex Neil and Ryan Lowe, only to fall short in the final few weeks of the campaign.

Last season though was turbulent - Lowe departed after just one game after walking out of his job, and it was left to Paul Heckingbottom to arrive and try and steer the ship back in the right direction.

Unable to create a squad of his own, Heckingbottom struggled to form an identity at Deepdale, and a 20th-placed finish was PNE's lowest in the Championship since they made it back to the level in 2015 - it's a much different story just a few months later though.

13 new arrivals since the start of the summer window has given North End's squad a drastic new look and feel, and that is evident on the pitch, with more pace, power and energy that was lacking last season, and their never say die attitude was on display with a battling 1-1 draw with Coventry City on Tuesday, having had a man disadvantage for over half the game thanks to Liam Lindsay's red card.

Goals are being chipped in from all areas of the pitch, but it's there one position that could potentially be strengthened come January, then it's the forward area.

Daniel Jebbison is perhaps performing above expectations since his loan switch from Bournemouth, scoring four times and assisting twice from his 14 league outings in what is proving to be his best season yet, whilst natural winger Lewis Dobbin, now utilised in a more supportive central attacking role by Heckingbottom, has four goals and five assists in the Championship.

But with Milutin Osmajic currently serving a nine-match ban, Michael Smith providing little in the way of goals and Will Keane not fancied by PNE's manager on his return to fitness, an attacking addition would prove welcome come January.

Dane Scarlett could provide Preston North End with extra attacking competition

And that void could be filled by a player in Dane Scarlett who has had so much expected of him at a young age, yet he's not yet fulfilled any of the potential that he's had since he was a teenager.

An England youth international since schoolboy level, Scarlett's progression through the Tottenham youth ranks was notable, with many expecting him to be the next Harry Kane at the north London outfit, and his form at the start of the 2020-21 season at under-18's level, where he found the back of the net 12 times in just eight appearances was a sign that first-team football was soon going to be on the horizon.

Handed a senior debut by Jose Mourinho of all managers in November 2020, Scarlett's first-team chances were limited thanks to the presence of attackers such as the aforementioned Kane, but he managed to add six senior appearances to his name in 2021-22, but he was barely used in developmental football thanks to his appearances in Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte's squads, and he needed a loan away in 2022-23 to really kick on.

It's hard to say though that Scarlett has actually kicked on since then. Portsmouth was the attacker's first destination in the summer of 2024, but he only scored four times for Pompey in League One, and spent much of the second half of that campaign coming off the bench or sitting on it, whilst also operating in an unnatural position out wide, with Colby Bishop proving an immovable object up-top.

A step up to the Championship with Kieran McKenna's Ipswich Town in 2023-24 wasn't very worthwhile either - Scarlett only appeared in short spells off the bench, and his stint was eventually cut short in January of that season, where he went on to feature six more times for Spurs' first-team in short cameos.

Another crack at second tier football came with Oxford United last season, in which Scarlett - who was in and out of Gary Rowett's starting 11 - scored four times in his 20 Championship appearances, and that record outperformed his xG (expected goals) stat of 0.83 quite significantly, which was very promising.

Scarlett, now aged 21, is stuck in limbo once more though. He has made a few appearances in the Premier League 2 competition for Spurs, having not gone out on loan in the summer for the first time in 2022, and he was handed a UEFA Champions League cameo appearance last month against FC Copenhagen by Thomas Frank.

But with Randal Kolo Muani, Mathys Tel, Richarlison and Dominic Solanke in-front of him (when fit), Scarlett's chances of first-team minutes is going to be slim, and heading to a club that's clearly full of confidence in North End could potentially be a great fit.

Whilst on paper his career and playing style may be similar to that of a Jebbison, Scarlett is a bit more versatile in terms of position, but the young, quick profile is clearly one that Heckingbottom is good at getting the best out of, as evidenced by this current season and what he's doing at PNE.

Alfie Devine could be the catalyst for Preston North End, Dane Scarlett deal

One big factor as to why PNE could be the perfect fit for Scarlett and vice versa is the presence of one of his young Tottenham team-mates in the current squad at Deepdale in the form of Alfie Devine.

North End's usage of the loan market in recent years has been impressive - current Real Madrid left-back Alvaro Carreras spent a whole season under Ryan Lowe when a Man United player, whilst Tom Cannon and Cameron Archer have both impressed in their short stints. The likes of Liam Delap and Troy Parrott less-so, but they've gone on to bigger and better things since they developed at PNE, and it's a real hot-spot of emerging young talent from Premier League clubs.

Devine needed a good next loan away from Spurs having spent last season in Belgium with Westerlo, and Deepdale has provided him with a perfect platform. Alongside other temporary signings such as Jebbison, Dobbin and Everton's Harrison Armstrong, the 21-year-old has scored three times in the Championship and has been an all-action midfielder - one who is well-liked on the terraces.

Having been with Spurs since 2020 after his move from Wigan Athletic, Devine and Scarlett will no doubt be very good friends, so the latter will know all too well that PNE are providing him with a fantastic platform to shine - should the latter be a target, he'd get a very good word from his Tottenham team-mate.