Preston North End decision made Bristol City £9m in transfer masterstroke: View | OneFootball

Having been snubbed by Manchester United at the age of 16 and not been offered a scholarship by the Red Devils, it was challenging times for Josh Brownhill.

Fortunately, though, despite being 'heartbroken', the young midfielder went on to find a new club in Preston North End, anfd made sure to make the most of this second opportunity.

Josh Brownhill's Preston breakthrough

The young midfielder would go on to have his breakthrough campaign with the club in 2013/14, making a total of 30 appearances in all competitions that season, backing this up with a further 28 the following campaign in a career that was starting to take off.

With Preston promoted to the Championship in Brownhill's second full season, however, things got complicated, and the youngster found game time very hard to come by in the first half of the 2015/16 season.

As such, Brownhill was sent out on loan to Barnsley back in League One, with the player going on to make 26 appearances in all competitions, helping the club to reach the Championship themselves via the play-offs.

Brownhill had started and played 90 minutes in all three play-off games, and also bagged an assist and a goal in the first and second leg ties against Walsall respectively.

That summer, though, his contract was up, and he had caught the attention of other clubs with his performances.

Brownhill joins Bristol City

One of those clubs was Bristol City, who ended up snapping up Brownhill in the summer of 2016 on what would typically have been a free transfer. However, due to Brownhill's age and the fact Preston had reportedly offered him a new deal, Bristol City would have been required to pay a compensation fee.

We are not sure what this fee turned out to be. However, whatever it was, Bristol City certainly got themselves a great deal in snapping the player up.

Unlike when Brownhill had been in the Championship with Preston, he was afforded plenty of game time at Bristol City in the second tier, starting most games for the Robins when fit in his debut campaign, in which he amassed 27 second tier outings.

It was to be in the following two seasons that Brownhill would really come into his own, though. Not only would he remain fully fit for two consecutive league campaigns, making 45 appearances in both 2017/18 and 2018/19, he had also discovered a knack for scoring and creating goals, registering nine direct goal contributions in each of those aforementioned seasons.

Robins net £9 million

In 2019/20, Brownhill's fine form continued, so much so that Sean Dyche's Burnley came calling in January. The Clarets reportedly paying £9 million for his signature that month.

Having signed Brownhill for a compensation fee years earlier, the eight-figure deal represented a healthy profit indeed, and showed just how far Brownhill had developed during his time at Ashton Gate.

In the end, Preston North End's decision not to tie down Brownhill when they had the chance is one that will always be filed under the 'one's that got away' file at Deepdale.

Not only did Josh Brownhill produce on the pitch for the Robins, but when the time came, he also netted the club a healthy return, too, and one that certainly made letting him depart the club much easier.

Having gone on to prove himself as a top Championship/bottom half Premier League player, it will certainly be interesting to see where Brownhill's career goes from here.