Former Portsmouth target and £540K-rated attacking midfielder released by Championship rivals

Former Pompey target Ben Woodburn has been made available for a free transfer this summer.

The 24-year-old attacking midfielder - who played alongside Blues head coach John Mousinho at Oxford United - has been released by Preston North End following the completion of their latest Championship campaign.

The Liverpool Academy product leaves Deepdale after two seasons and 63 appearances for the Lilywhites. He’s joined by Greg Cunningham in departing PNE, with both players coming to the end of their current contracts,

Woodburn was a target of former Pompey boss Kenny Jackett in 2020 as he attempted to find a solution to the Blues’ then No10 issues. A loan move from Liverpool was mooted after the Wales international helped the U’s progress to the 2019-20 League One play-off final at the Blues’ expense. Yet a switch never materialised as the player ended up at Blackpool instead.

Mousinho played alongside Woodburn on 10 occasions during his season-long loan stay at the Kassam Stadium. That season the forward registered just one goal and two assists in a campaign that was hampered by injury.

While admirer Jackett was sacked by Pompey in March 2021, Woodburn featured 11 times for the Seasiders without scoring a goal or recording an assist before returning to Liverpool. He finished the 2020-21 season with Scottish Premiership Hearts, where he scored three goals in 28 appearances.

The player was not involved in four of Preston’s last five match-day squads at the end of the Championship season. Woodburn is valued at 635,000 euros on transfermarkt.com.