Peter Ridsdale exclusive as Preston North End state of play explained – bids, setbacks and talks

PNE director speaks to the Lancashire Post – with four weeks left of the summer transfer window
Preston North End director Peter Ridsdale has explained the Lilywhites’ lack of business since signing Sam Greenwood and Stefan Thordarson, in an exclusive chat with the Lancashire Post.

The Deepdale outfit added both midfielders to manager Ryan Lowe’s squad in early July, but haven’t strengthened further since. Heading into the summer, Ridsdale expected PNE to make four or five additions. That remains the case, despite the varying challenges and hurdles North End have faced over the last week or so.

“We know we need a left wing-back and we, ideally, would bring in a right wing-back and additional defensive cover,” Ridsdale told the Lancashire Post. “But, we have got costs and overheads that we’ve got to look at. We’ve made it clear that Pat (Bauer) has been told, if he can find another club, we will assist him in doing so. And obviously, he is currently in the wage bill for the year, assuming he stays. We have also got young Kian Best, who has a role to play – whether it be in defence or at left wing-back.          “And, we are very conscious of the fact you can’t stop the progress of young kids coming through. It is a juggling act, but we are absolutely in the market for additions beyond the two we’ve brought in. It would, in an ideal world, be a minimum of two and maybe maximum of three. That is based on cash availability, and everybody knows which positions they are. Clearly, if anyone else leaves us, we would replace. I have got some money set aside for transfer fees, so if somebody comes in without us paying a fee then it frees up cash for a third player – without anybody going out.

“Or, depending on how much they cost, we might get all three within our current budget parameters. The frustration, to be honest, is that – at the same time we were talking to Sam and Stefan way back in June – we had a wing-back, who could play both sides. The player wanted to come, after we spoke to him – with the club’s permission. The club said he could come – a loan with a defined option to purchase at the end of it. And, I was told in writing last Monday that he would come. We were all geared up to that and then on Monday we got a call to say they’d had an injury to one of their other players and wouldn’t now let him out, but would take a view closer to the end of the transfer window – which is no good to us. We’ve also made bids for players, at our valuation, which haven’t been accepted.

“So, we’ve probably had six or seven candidates for the slots we are looking to fill. And, at varying times, we’ve thought they’d get done and they haven’t got done. I have, currently, got three live. They have all got agreements with the players, but the situation with two of the clubs is that they haven’t agreed transfer fees with us. We are in extended negotiations, but the good news is that in all three cases the players would come and the personal terms have been agreed. How many of those get done, we will find out. I cannot confidently sit here and tell you they will all get done. All I can tell you is that we know the slots we need to fill and we will only fill them with the right players. We still have three live and kicking today, having lost a few over the last few weeks.”

With regards to the third target mentioned, Ridsdale added: “The other one is not complicated with the club and if he comes, you will find out why. We made the offer to the player and I think personal terms are accepted – that finished about half past ten last night. We are expecting a call with the player and manager today. If that goes as well as we think, we are hoping we can get that done over the next couple of days. So, that’s live. The other two are absolutely live and we’ve been dealing with them for weeks in some cases; in others it’s been days. The ones we are talking about, all three are permanents. The three, combined, are two wing-backs and a centre-back. So, if we got all three, it would satisfy the three immediate priorities.”

The loan move for Greenwood, with option-to-buy, was a new avenue explored by PNE’s standards. Those deals are becoming increasingly common, while continuing to shop overseas – given the financial demands of the domestic market – appears to be a no brainer. Iceland international Thordarson reportedly cost a fee in the region of £800,000. As North End aim to bring in quality which can improve the starting XI, it’s imperative to look beyond England.

“Certainly, player wages from overseas are easier to slot into our wage structure,” said Ridsdale. “In terms of transfer fees, until one I’m dealing with now I would’ve agreed that overseas have become better value for money. There is one I thought we’d sorted last week, and we are still talking to them. I thought we’d done a deal and it wasn’t that cheap, at all – in fact it would’ve been a club record. The club have come back and asked for even more money now. I am surprised at that number and it would then make it very expensive, with the way the market is – whether it be domestic or international. We will have to see what happens there. We don’t want to wait until the end of the window.

“You’ve got this classic balance where you do the business as early as you can, then everyone jumps up and down as to why we’ve done nothing on the last day – because it’s an exciting close to the transfer window. The last day is always fraught. I don’t like doing deadline day deals, which isn’t to say we won’t do them – but I would like to do our business early, if we can. We are sitting here today on the second of August and we’ve got until the 30th, but our strategy was always to have them in place for the start of the domestic season – which is another week. Will we? I don’t know. A couple of weeks I thought we would have. Today, I am saying I think we’ll do some business, but not necessarily complete it by next Friday.

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