Preston North End turned £100k into £6m with genius transfer: View | OneFootball

David Nugent is a name now synonymous with the EFL, but in 2007, Preston received Premier League levels of cash for their promising young forward.

Being the historic club that they are, Preston North End have seen many talented players pass through their ranks over the years, but few of their transfers compare to the signing of iconic EFL striker David Nugent.

In January 2005, the Lilywhites acquired the services of then 19-year-old striker from Bury for £100,000, following his impressive form for League Two outfit Bury, where he had scored 11 times in the first half of the 2004-05 campaign.

Culminating in a multi-million-pound sale to Portsmouth just over two years later, Nugent's time at PNE saw a unique and remarkable rise that not only made the Merseysider an overwhelming fan favourite, but also from a financial point of view, arguably one of the club’s best-ever investment.

David Nugent soon repaid his £100k fee to Preston North End with goals

By January of the 2004/05 season, a 19-year-old Nugent had already scored 11 goals in that season's fourth-tier. For reference, no teenager has ever scored more than 14 in a League Two season - the record being held by Nick Powell, then of Crewe Alexandra - and had Nugent not left, he was well on course for 20-plus goals.

Despite his goals, Nugent was a relative unknown when North End decided to take a chance on him.

While it may seem commonplace in today's financial climate, a £100,000 investment in a teenager yet to play higher than fourth-tier football represented a significant gamble at the time. However, it wouldn't take long to be universally considered a bargain.

Preston did, however, have previous in spending decent amounts on teenage talent, Pawel Abbott, Tyrone Mears and Dickson Etuhu all joined the Lilywhites for estimated six-figure fees in this era, so the pressure wasn't entirely on Nugent's shoulders.

The young striker wasted no time making his presence felt at Deepdale, as the remaining six months of the season saw him score eight times for his new club as they reached the Championship play-offs.

Now 20, the former Liverpool academy man opened the scoring against Derby County in the semi-final, but sadly lost out to West Ham in the final thanks to a Bobby Zamora goal at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

From a play-style point of view, the longevity of his career has perhaps made it difficult to remember Nugent's unplayable pace and dribbling ability as a youngster, and combining this with a respectable work ethic and eye for goal, it is unsurprising just how quickly he established himself as a key player in PNE's attack.

In the 2005-06 season, Nugent truly came into his own. He scored 11 goals, including a wonder goal against Leeds in yet another play-off semi-final, but it wouldn't be long before the vultures started to circle at Deepdale.

David Nugent's £6 million move to Portsmouth in 2007 was a great deal for Preston North End

As Nugent’s stock continued to rise, so did interest from other clubs. By the end of the 2006-07 season, he had scored 17 goals, one of which - a top-corner finish following a run from his own half against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup - earned him nationwide recognition.

By now he was not only widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the Championship, but among the brightest talents in the English game full-stop.

His form remarkably earned him a call-up to the England national team in March 2007, remaining one of just five players to do so playing in the EFL this century.

Despite only playing 14 minutes, he infamously scored on his solitary Three Lions cap against Andorra, blasting the ball home from less than a yard as Jermain Defoe's shot was trickling in.

By this time, Premier League clubs were circling, and Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth eventually secured his services in July 2007 for a fee reported to be around £6 million.

For Preston, this represented an incredible return on their initial six-figure investment - a mouthwatering 60-times increase that gave the club a significant financial boost at the time - and it was a deal that was inevitable given they failed to make it into the top six of the Championship that year.

Nugent may have gone on to flop at Fratton Park, and PNE didn't exactly invest the money they got for his services well, with the likes of Kevin Nicholls, Darren Carter and Neal Trotman doing very little over the years they were on the books at Deepdale, but all in all, £6 million was a great price to take.

David Nugent left a lasting legacy on Preston North End and the EFL

In terms of his PNE legacy, David Nugent’s time at the Lancashire club - in his first stint - was short but highly impactful. Although he ended up as something of a Championship journeyman (althoguh a very good one), his absolute peak certainly came during his first spell at Deepdale.

More than just a financial success, Nugent’s arrival heralded a period where North End consistently competed at the top end of the Championship, and if not for fine margins, could well have seen them becoming a Premier League team for the first time.

He returned to the club in 2019, albeit in the twilight of his career, underlining the lasting affection between him and the fans - although that spell was less than successful.

His success demonstrated that with smart scouting and recruitment, even clubs with comparatively modest means can find diamonds in the rough.

Ultimately, the £6 million transfer stands as one of Preston North End’s most successful pieces of business, and is a textbook example of how taking a gamble on an unproven teen can completely change a club's fortunes.

Following his transfer to Portsmouth, the forward would go on to score just 14 times in 97 Premier League appearances (for Pompey, Burnley and Leicester respectively), eventually typecasting himself as a high-end Championship player that could never quite grasp the top-flight.

Despite this, with 121 second-tier strikes, he retired with the third-most goals in the rebranded second-tier, a career that 99.9% of players could only dream of.