Preston North End have dodged a bullet with Birmingham City, Lyndon Dykes transfer snub | OneFootball

Lyndon Dykes chose against signing for Preston North End this summer, and PNE should feel relieved that he did

Despite some promising business done throughout the summer, Preston North End were unable to add the final piece of the jigsaw in the form of a new striker on deadline day, despite seemingly trying their hardest to do so.

The Lilywhites were linked with a loan return for Sheffield United's Tom Cannon, who had a successful short stint at Deepdale when he was an Everton player, but that deal broke down despite making an approach for the Republic of Ireland international.

Another man linked was Chelsea's Ivorian centre-forward David Datro Fofana, with Pete O'Rourke claiming at one point that the Lancashire outfit were favourites to land a deal, but the script flipped late in the day with Charlton looking most likely to sign him - only for that move to break down.

PNE also seemingly made a surprise move too for Birmingham City's Lyndon Dykes, but that also didn't come to fruition, after the Scotsman declined the option to sign for Paul Heckingbottom's side, instead favouring a move back to Scotland with Hibernian.

In the end, the Scottish Premiership side didn't want to pay the "massive chunk" of the 29-year-old's wages at Birmingham, and thus Dykes remained at St. Andrew's past the transfer deadline.

North End fans will feel mightily frustrated that they weren't able to add another striker towards the end of the transfer window, but at the same time, they may also be a bit relieved, based on Dykes' recent record.

Preston North End should be relieved to have avoided Lyndon Dykes loan deal

Whilst a strong presence at the top of the pitch, Dykes isn't someone you can rely on to score at a high level in the Championship, which ultimately is what PNE were looking for in a striker throughout the summer.

The 29-year-old's best scoring season in the English second tier came in his first, when he netted 12 in 42 games for Queens Park Rangers during the 2020/21 campaign.

Since then, he's yet to score in the double digits across a league season, and he was only a bit-part player in League One for Birmimgham last season in their 111-point record-breaking haul, in which he only scored the one solitary goal.

Overall, Dykes' Championship scoring record is 36 in 160 games, which isn't too dissimilar to Michael Smith, who was PNE's main striker arrival this summer on a free, as the former Sheffield Wednesday man has netted 30 times in 165 Championship games.

Whilst both Smith and Dykes provide much more outside of goal contributions at the top end of the pitch, it's clear that Paul Heckingbottom doesn't need both at the same time, especially as he tries to get a side that scored just 48 last season to find the back of the net more this term, so it makes the approach for the Australia-born striker a bizarre one.

Milutin Osmajic retention for Preston North End is key, but Emil Riis may not have been replaced

Whilst Preston fans can feel frustrated that they weren't able to bring in a new striker on deadline day, especially given that they were linked with fan-favourite Cannon, they can feel relieved that a significant bid wasn't accepted for Osmajic, who has started this season in fine form.

The Montenegrin international has had a lightning start to the season with three goals in as many league games, and was linked with a move away to the Italian top flight, with Cremonese reported to be looking at tabling a bid in the final week of the window. In the end, the Serie A side went for Jamie Vardy, and Osmajic remained at Deepdale.

Paul Heckingbottom's side were beaten for the first time this season on Saturday against Portsmouth, but the 26-year-old missed out through a rib injury, meaning he kept his 100 per cent league goalscoring record intact.

There's a chance though that Osmajic could still receive a lengthy ban, with his alleged racism case stemming from a February incident involving Burnley's Hannibal Mejbri dragging on nearly seven months after it happened, with Alan Nixon claiming four different lip-readers cannot decipher what was actually said at the time. An official hearing is due for the striker this month, of which PNE will be hoping for good news.

Even if Osmajic gets back to fitness and avoids a ban, PNE could be short at the top end of the pitch.

Heckingbottom looks to want to play a 3-5-2 formation, and given Smith turns 34 in October, Bournemouth loanee Daniel Jebbison has scored just one Championship in his 40 appearances across three different clubs, and Aston Villa arrival Lewis Dobbin is more of a winger than a central striker, it's hard to see where the regular supply of goals will come from if Osmajic is absent or doesn't fire.

Losing Emil Riis on a free transfer to divisional rivals Bristol City is also a blow.

Peter Ridsdale confirmed in May that the Dane had told the club all season that he did not want to discuss a new contract to stay at Deepdale, so the powers-that-be knew a replacement was needed all along, and naturally, the only way to replace a striker who scored 12 league goals in 2024-25 for the club was to spend some money.

A £3 million bid for Wycombe striker Richard Koné in July looked promising at the time, but the money soon seemingly disappeared, with Heckingbottom repeatedly stating in the final few weeks of the transfer window that it would just be frees and loan deals to be explored.

As it happened, for all of the exploring that was done, no new face would arrive to replace Riis, despite the length of time the club knew he was departing for, and whilst PNE may regret not acting sooner, Lyndon Dykes was never going to be the answer to be his successor.