Dutch striker could solve Preston North End’s problem position: Opinion | OneFootball

Preston North End's pre-season campaign will get underway this weekend with a trip to local non-league outfit Bamber Bridge, but they have some major issues to address in the coming week as their preparations for 2023-24 step up.

Ryan Lowe has a small first-team squad to choose from, with some players released and the likes of Daniel Johnson and Josh Onomah not putting pen to paper on new contracts, and their only new signing so far - Liverpool's Calvin Ramsay - isn't joining until mid-July.

Without doubt the biggest issue though is up-front, where there is little to choose from going into the match with Brig.

Emil Riis has been photographed on the first day of training for the summer but he's just over five months post-operation on an ACL injury, meaning it's unlikely we see the Dane back in action for another three months at the very least.

Veteran striker Ched Evans underwent neck surgery nearly two months ago and his return date is unclear, but he is another player who it will be a while before we see take to the pitch.

Add teenage forward Finlay Cross-Adair's legal issues to the mix and it leaves Lowe with just Mikey O'Neill - a 19-year-old attacker who played 11 times for Grimsby Town in League Two last season without scoring - as the only out-and-out option, although if desperate Ben Woodburn could surely cover in attack in the first few fixtures in July.

We may even see 16-year-old Felipe Rodriguez-Gentile against Bamber Bridge, but the desperation is clear for new additions in attack - Ferencvaros and Morocco striker Ryan Mmaee has been linked this week with claims that a loan-to-buy deal has been rejected by the Hungarian outfit, however that has been denied outright by local reports.

One player who should be on the club's radar though following the relaxation of work permit rules by The FA is 24-year-old Dutch forward Dylan Vente, who would go some way to solving PNE's issues.

Who is Dylan Vente?

Vente will be somewhat of an unknown name to most as he's plied his trade in Dutch football all his career, having come through the academy of a big club in the form of Feyenoord.

Vente actually played 33 times for them as a youngster, scoring seven goals, but in 2021 having failed to make many appearances in the first half of the 2020-21 season with Feyenoord, he was loaned out to Roda JC - which soon became a full-time move.

It was only when the deal became permanent in the summer of 2021 where Vente showed the prolific side to his game, netting 24 times in 40 outings in the second tier of Dutch football in 2021-22, as well as notching seven assists.

He has followed that up in yet another season in the Eerste Divisie by scoring 21 goals in 38 appearances, proving to be one of the most prolific players in the Netherlands despite playing below the Eredivisie.

Even though North End rarely shop in the European market, both before the build-up to the changing of work permit regulations because of Brexit and after, Vente could be a player worth taking a punt on.

A video of all of his goals in 2022 is on the internet and it shows he scores goals of all variations - you can check that out below

How much would Dylan Vente cost?

Roda's continuing failure to make it back to the top flight of Dutch football means that Vente could be available this summer for the right price - he only has one year remaining on his contract too.

The quality of the second tier of Dutch football can of course be deliberated, but considering he's scored consistently for the last two years, he is worth a shot at a higher level.

You'd imagine that Eredivisie clubs will have Vente on their radars but Dutch players have done well in England - you only have to look at what Zian Flemming has done at Millwall in the previous 12 months to see that there is talent out there.

Transfermarkt estimates Vente's valuation at around €900,000 (£772,000) - Roda may want higher than this for their talisman but in a world where transfers are done mostly by instalments, add-ons and sell-on clauses, Vente should be achieveable for a club like PNE.