Preston North End urged to retain "proven Championship goalscorer" on Sheffield United's radar | OneFootball

FLW's Preston North End fan pundit has given his verdict on the Sheffield United interest in Emil Riis Jakobsen

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Preston North End striker Emil Riis Jakobsen is attracting January transfer interest from Sheffield United.

According to The Star, Chris Wilder is keen on signing the 26-year-old as the Blades look to bolster their attacking options for the second half of the campaign.

The Lilywhites will have a decision to make about the player’s future this month, with his contract set to expire in the summer.

Wilder also previously attempted to sign the Dane when he was working at Middlesbrough, but the Lancashire outfit reportedly rejected a £7 million offer for him.

Emil Riis Jakobsen transfer verdict

When asked whether a move could happen in January, FLW’s Preston fan pundit Darren Watson claimed that he’d rather see the forward stay at Deepdale.

While he has been critical of the player in the past, he now believes that a contract extension should be their priority at the moment, rather than cashing in on this interest from Sheffield United.

“At the beginning of the season, we were very critical of Emil Riis,” Watson told Football League World.

“We needed a goalscorer and I just don’t think he was sharp enough, had a good enough pre-season.

“But it’s come to fruition now in recent times, and he’s actually scoring goals and winning us games.

“So I’m not surprised that people are obviously after him.

“He’s a proven Championship goalscorer and he can do it at the highest level.

“I just feel like, now with the situation with his contract coming to an end, do we sell him, or do we keep him for his goals and try get to the top end of the table? Which seems to be a really difficult one.

“I think we should keep him now.

“I know I’ve been critical of him in the past, but we needed the goals when the team wasn’t performing as they should’ve done at the beginning of the season.

“But I think maybe we look at maybe another contract extension and keep him.”

Riis has scored seven goals from 24 league appearances so far this season, with Paul Heckingbottom’s side currently 16th in the Championship table.

Heckingbottom has made Preston’s stance clear on Riis

Heckingbottom has responded to the speculation surrounding Riis, and made it clear that he’d be reluctant to see the player depart this month.

However, the lack of time remaining on his contract does give Preston very little wiggle room.

If a good enough offer arrives, then they should really consider cashing in unless they believe the player will sign a new deal instead.

Otherwise, losing him for nothing in the summer for the sake of potentially finishing around 10th or 11th place just doesn’t seem worthwhile for the club compared to what kind of fee they could receive for him right now.