Preston North End may still regret £10m decision - it could have cost them Premier League Football | OneFootball

Preston North End made a bold decision in their hunt for the top-flight

Preston North End are often labelled as one of the Football League’s least exciting clubs, due to their stagnant nature and Championship residency.

That almost changed in a cruel twist of fate last season, as an early managerial change and sudden late-season slump saw PNE come perilously close to relegation.

Coupled with a run to the FA Cup quarter-finals, some would argue that North End supporters were treated to the excitement they have craved so long for.

These aren’t the thrills Preston fans want to experience though. No, they long for something much more enticing.

Throughout the 2000’s, the Lilywhites were Championship play-off regulars, reaching the final in 2005.

However, North End haven’t finished in the second-tier’s top six since 2009 and since their promotion back to the division in 2015, have only came seventh once.

That close call with the play-offs came during the 2017/18 campaign, PNE’s first under the rule of a certain Alex Neil.

During that year, the Lancashire outfit made a bold decision in the January transfer market, which may have ended up costing them a shot at Premier League football.

Preston North End made £10 million decision that may have ultimately backfired

A family-owned club such as Preston North End can’t bankroll their way into the top-flight like other Championship outfits.

Instead, they have to try and recruit young, exciting profiles who they can sell on for profit to invest into the club.

That model seemed to be working perfectly in January 2018, when West Ham United had a bid believed to be in the region of £10 million accepted for a 25-year-old Jordan Hugill.

The striker had netted 10 times that season for PNE, as Neil’s side sat three points outside the top six.

However, after rejecting offers for Hugill in the summer previous, North End had finally decided to sell, one day before the winter window slammed shut.

This gave them very little time to reinvest back into the squad, which they ultimately didn’t.

After 46 games, the Lilywhites finished seventh, just two points shy of the play-offs.

Neil himself has commented on how strong the belief in camp was that Premier League promotion was achievable with a few extra additions, which will make the North End faithful reflect on the term in quite a bittersweet attitude.

If PNE had kept Hugill at Deepdale until the end of the season, his goals might have provided the two-point difference needed to sneak into the play-offs.

Similarly, if they had sold the striker earlier on in the window, North End would have had more time to bring in a few more recruits that could’ve given them an edge during the run-in.

Instead, Preston banked the money and ultimately let their chance at the top six pass them by.

Preston North End saw their play-off dreams edge further away in the resulting years

In the summer following Hugill’s departure, North End brought in the likes of Brad Potts, Jordan Storey, Ryan Ledson and Andrew Hughes who would all go on to be regulars for the side in years to come.

These players were never going to give them that edge to build on their momentum and assert themselves as play-off challengers, however.

Issues such as a strict wage structure prevented the Lancashire outfit from recruiting certain profiles, but the following seasons saw them move further and further away from the top six.

Eventually, Neil was gone. His era at the club was over and since then, PNE haven’t come quite as close to realising their Premier League dream.

Reflecting on that period now, many fans will feel that if the Hugill saga had been handled slightly differently, including how the funds were spent following his sale, North End just might have had a shot at the top-flight.

Instead, that wait goes on, with Heckingbottom now entrusted with the task of making the Deepdale faithful dream once more.