Exclusive: Sky Sports pundit touts Charlton Athletic man for Preston North End transfer | OneFootball

Thierry Small's future at The Valley is up in the air - could he be heading to Deepdale with PNE?

With Preston North End set to compete in an 11th-straight Championship season when 2025-26 rolls around, Paul Heckingbottom will be looking to refresh his squad after an inconsistent campaign.

The ex-Sheffield United boss had it tough as he arrived after just a few games of the current season, with previous manager Ryan Lowe resigning after just one league match, and it means that his current squad is mainly someone else's.

With a number of contracts expiring this summer though, the Lilywhites could have found the perfect time to rebuild, and they are being linked once more with a player that they were keeping tabs on in the January transfer window.

It was reported late on in the mid-season window by Alan Nixon that PNE were watching Charlton Athletic left-back Thierry Small, but a deal never arose, leaving the ex-Everton man to complete the season at The Valley, with Nathan Jones, side chasing promotion to the Championship.

Lee Hendrie: Preston North End would be good destination for Charlton Athletic's Thierry Small

It appears though that North End are still looking into a deal for 20-year-old Small, with the Solihull-born wide player said to be of interest to the Lancashire outfit again, as well as a Championship club a bit closer to his current home in the form of play-off chasing Millwall.

Small has rebuilt his career at Charlton after a somewhat disappointing time with Southampton, which saw loan stints at Port Vale and St Mirren not amount to much, and he's currently showing the type of performance in League One that has seen him capped at three different youth levels for England.

And speaking exclusively to Football League World, current Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie believes that a switch to Deepdale - or perhaps even Millwall - would be a good fit if the youngster is looking to move upwards, providing that Charlton do not go up.

"Likewise with Preston, they're looking to take Thierry with his contract expiring. I think you look at the two sides that are heavily linked with him in Millwall and Preston, it's giving him an option," Hendrie told FLW.

"Preston, I think Heckingbottom has done a very good job there, they tend to not have one of the bigger budgets in the Championship, and it might be that he goes to a club like that where he can take that next step on the ladder, rather than going to a club where he might not feature as much, a club that's got probably more potential and he might have to bide his time.

"Whereas if he goes to somewhere like Preston or Millwall, at least he's giving himself a chance to put himself in a situation where people are going to stand up and see he can step up and make that mark.

"So, both clubs would be relatively good for him, and both clubs would relish the fact he's a free transfer as well."

Thierry Small's versatility could be worth a gamble for Preston North End this summer

For a player that Everton wanted £5 million for in compensation in 2021 as a 17-year-old when he made the move to Southampton, it's safe to say that Small's career hasn't panned out exactly as expected so far.

A tribunal ended up settling Small's price-tag, but he was never able to make an impact at the Saints, as well as his loan stints away from St Mary's Stadium, but thankfully for the speedy left-footer, Nathan Jones saw fit to bring him in at Charlton last year, where he would have worked with him briefly as manager at the south coast club in 2022 and 2023.

2024-25 has been somewhat of a breakout season for Small but also a learning curve, as he has been playing more advanced on the right flank more often than not, as opposed to his natural position of left-back - he has played wing-back either side of the pitch but also more recently as a right-winger in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

That shows just how versatile the 20-year-old is, and that is a good trait to have - it will also be ideal for Paul Heckingbottom to have such a player in his squad next season, considering you'd imagine he'd like to be adaptable between a back four and a back three with wing-backs.

With Small out of contract again this summer, the interest in his services suggests a Championship switch is inevitable, unless the Addicks go up of course, and there may not be a better fit for him than at Deepdale, where there is set to be vacancies on both sides of the pitch at wing-back with Kaine Kesler Hayden and Jayden Meghoma heading back to parent clubs Aston Villa and Brentford.