‘A risk worth taking’ – Preston North End plot move for ex-Chelsea freebie: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Preston North End have emerged as a contender to sign Izzy Brown, according to reports from Lancs Live.

The attacking midfielder is facing an uncertain future after coming to the end of his Chelsea contract and failing to earn a new deal at Stamford Bridge.

As a result the 24-year-old is searching for a new club after a difficult couple of years, including a spell with Sheffield Wednesday last term where he made 21 appearances as the club suffered relegation to League One.

With the Lilywhites keen on a move for the player it means that he could be afforded another chance to succeed in the Championship, but would Izzy Brown be a good signing for Preston North End?

The team at FLW have their say…

The ultimate 2021 Preston North End quiz – Can you get 24/24 correct?

Ben Wignall

I have my reservations about this one but the more I think about it, the more I feel as though Brown has been dealt a bad hand in recent years.

His definite stand-out season was in 2016-17 when he scored four times in 15 appearances for Huddersfield, but he hasn’t really been able to kick on for a number of reasons.

Some of that is due to not being selected by the clubs he’s been loaned to from Chelsea or he’s suffered from bad injuries, which is why he only played one league game for Leeds in 2018-19.

By all accounts Luton fans rated Brown but again injuries restricted him from getting a full season under his belt, and at Sheffield Wednesday he was fit most of the time but just wasn’t really given a chance.

Considering he’s been around for so long it’s hard to believe that Brown is still only 24, and for that reason he may be worth a punt for at least one year to see if he can prove he’s over his injury struggles and to see what happens when he gets a run of games under his belt.

Brown clearly has technical quality as he wouldn’t have been under contract at Chelsea for so long, but it’s up to him to show that he can now consistently do it at Championship level and Deepdale could be the ideal destination to resurrect his career.

Toby Wilding