Southampton & Preston join Leicester in Crystal Palace transfer race | OneFootball

The Premier League midfielder Justin Devenny is in demand this summer, with two Championship clubs joining League One Leicester in the chase for him.

Europa Conference League winning midfielder Justin Devenny is a target for clubs in both the Championship and League One, with Southampton and Preston joining Leicester in the chase for his signature.

A second successive relegation for Leicester City at the end of the 2025-26 has not tempered the ambition of the club. After falling from the Premier League in 2025, the club were expected to challenge for a quick return to the top-flight, only for their season to implode as financial issues that had been plaguing the club for some time started to catch up with them.

With a six-point deduction for previous breaches of PSR rules having ultimately made the difference between them staying up and going down at the end of last season, Leicester will have to balance their books carefully amid a further fall in revenue which comes with that second successive relegation.

But this has to be balanced against the club's need to make their stay in League One as brief as possible, and this means moving for players who are a division above where they will be playing next season. And in the case of the Crystal Palace midfielder Justin Devenny, Leicester's ambitions could be disrupted by the interest of at least two Championship clubs.

Southampton and Preston join Leicester City in the race for Justin Devenny

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Journalist Alan Nixon reports on his Patreon that Leicester City's interest in Devenny, who was in the squad which won the Europa Conference League with Crystal Palace at the end of the 2025-26 season, could clash with interest from two Championship clubs.

Southampton are still licking their wounds from the Spygate saga which clouded the end of their 2025-26 season, and despite a four-point deduction over that episode, they're looking to challenge for a return to the Premier League next season.

Nixon reports that they are interested in Devenny as a possible replacement for Shea Charles, who's expected to leave the club this summer despite Leeds United already having had two bids for the player rejected.

They're not the only Championship club interested in the 22-year-old midfielder either. Nixon also confirms that Preston North End could be interested in him after having missed a deadline to sign former loanee Alfie Devine on a permanent deal from Spurs at the end of June.

Nixon reports that the transfer fee could be as high as £5 million for the Northern Ireland international.

What fans are saying about the race for Justin Devenny

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The possibility of a Premier League quality player being available to clubs in the Championship or League One has caused a bit of a stir on social media. Here are some of the highlights. This Leicester fan has doubts over that quoted £5 million transfer fee:

This Crystal Palace fan has an idea of how Southampton could cut a deal involving one of the players that they're expected to lose this summer:

Another Palace fan suggested that Palace never really used Devenny in his normal position and confirmed that the player could really do a job for Leicester City next season:

And it has been pointed out by some Leicester fans that this sort of ambition is important, if they're to make their stay in League One as short as possible:

But not all Crystal Palace supporters are fans of him:

Premier League pedigree makes Justin Devenny an attractive option for EFL clubs this summer

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Signed from the Scottish club Airdrieonians at the start of the 2023-24 season, Justin Devenny has been an important squad player for Crystal Palace since he made his full senior debut for them in November 2024 after spending his first season with the club in their development squad.

In total, Devenny has made 60 appearances for Palace, including 44 in the Premier League. Throughout the 2025-26 season, he made 21 Premier League appearances for the Eagles, of which seven were starts. He's also been capped twelve times by the Northern Ireland international team, having made his first appearance for them in the same month that he made his Premier League debut.

The other two clubs interested in him both have dilemmas of their own. It's been reported that Preston North End have been given an extension by Spurs, should they wish to make the signing of Alfie Devine a permanent one. Southampton, meanwhile, suffered reputational damage as a result of Spygate and start the new season on -4 points as a result of it.

A two-division drop might make Leicester City's negotiation position difficult, but if the club can persuade Devenny of their ambition to get back to the Premier League as soon as possible, he could yet be persuaded. After all, teams have won two successive promotions before, and at 22-years-old, the player is still young.

Devenny's Premier League pedigree will make the midfielder an attractive option for clubs across the EFL, and the cost of Leicester's relegation can be clearly seen in the disadvantaged position they're in when it comes to negotiations in comparison with Preston and Southampton. But the Foxes are ambitious to return to the Championship as quickly as possible, and if they can persuade the player of their ambition, they could yet be successful in their pursuit of him.