Exclusive: Sky Sports pundit urges Huddersfield Town to land "statement" double Preston North End transfer coup | OneFootball

The Terriers have been eyeing up North End duo Jack Whatmough and Brad Potts

Huddersfield Town are reportedly plotting a double raid of Preston North End for Jack Whatmough and Brad Potts - but it appears they may have their work cut out when it comes to striking a deal for the latter.

The Terriers have been incredibly active in the summer transfer window so far and have had somewhat of a headstart on a lot of their League One rivals, with no fewer than seven new faces through the door at the Accu Stadium.

There's been a mix of experienced signings as well as players in their early 20's who could develop into a lot better than third tier level - one player who drops into the former category is Ryan Ledson, who left Preston at the end of his contract and dropped down a level to join Town and new manager Lee Grant.

Huddersfield Town backed to sign PNE's Jack Whatmough & Brad Potts in double deal

Ledson may not be the only signing to arrive from Deepdale for Huddersfield, as news emerged from Alan Nixon last week that the West Yorkshire outfit were looking to bring experienced centre-back Whatmough to the club - despite the fact Sean Roughan, Murray Wallace, Joe Low and Josh Feeney made up a strong set of signings in that area of the pitch already.

With Nixon later stating that a deal for Whatmough is very much "on", and that they're hoping to pay around £250,000 for the 28-year-old, it was also claimed that versatile PNE midfielder/wing-back Potts was also being targeted by Huddersfield.

As per the Lancashire Post though, Huddersfield's advances for the 31-year-old have been snubbed, with Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom keen to keep Potts at the club, and it's been further revealed that despite being widely reported that he has one year remaining on his contract, PNE have a club option to extend the player's deal into 2027 if they want to.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, current Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie believes that Huddersfield would be showing their ambitions for the upcoming season in a big way if they were able to land both Whatmough and Potts - although only one of the two looks a definite right now.

"Jack Whatmough and Brad Potts being linked with Huddersfield - I think this would be a real good couple of signings," Hendrie told FLW.

"Very solid, you know what you're getting from them, and obviously being in League One you do feel that they could step up and be real key players and big players in that league if they are to happen.

"So yes, really good additions these would be, and I think probably a bit of a statement of where they're going and what they're trying to achieve this season having been disappointing last season - I think these would be very, very good signings."

Huddersfield Town should continue to push for Brad Potts deal - he could be one of the best midfielders in League One

Whatmough looks to be heading to Huddersfield this summer, and even though he's not played regularly in the Championship for PNE and has had his injury worries in the last two years, you get the feeling he'd be a top League One centre-back.

Lee Grant will likely operate with a 3-5-2 this season for Huddersfield based on the profile of signings that have been brought into the club so far, and with Potts now a target, he could fit in as a right wing-back or a box-to-box midfielder.

He's played the wing-back role for most of the last few years at North End, but he's a natural midfielder and Heckingbottom started to use him there a bit more often than usual last season, which could suggest that's where he sees his role this season - especially as Pol Valentin has signed up at Deepdale and Hull City's Cody Drameh has also been targeted in the summer window.

With the mass amount of Championship experience he has, if Potts could be tempted to drop down a level and play regularly for Huddersfield - and re-unite with one of his best mates in the form of Ryan Ledson - then it would be some coup for Grant and owner Kevin Nagle.