‘He'd made it quite clear’: Portsmouth chief sets record straight on why Callum Lang was sold to Preston North End

Andy Cullen reflected on the sale of Fratton favourite Callum Lang and insisted: It represents good business.

Preston North End were finally successful in their persistent pursuit of the 27-year-old when they signed him late on deadline day for an undisclosed fee, hailed as a club record by the Championship high-fliers.

Despite having braced themselves for Lang’s exit during a lengthy transfer chase, Blues supporters were disappointed to see the departure of a player who had scored 16 goals in 53 appearances.

However, Pompey’s chief executive insists the attacker had driven the switch, being keen on a return to the north of England ‘for family reasons’.

And, despite initial reluctance to cash in on the ex-Wigan man, Cullen, Rich Hughes and John Mousinho took into account Lang’s disappointing injury record before giving the green light for a Deepdale switch worth around £2m.

‘The player had made it quite clear’

Cullen told The News: ‘It represents good business for the football club. Although there was a huge reluctance from the club - and particularly the owners - to sell Callum.

‘The owners gave us an increased budget to invest and spend on players and there are a number of factors which came into Callum’s departure. First and foremost, the player had made it quite clear he wanted to move back up north for family reasons. Yet he’s a player under contract.

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‘Obviously players will have personal reasons from time to time, they will have the interest in them which may well determine they want to move. They are still players under contract to us and, until we get an offer which we are prepared to accept and makes good business overall for Portsmouth Football Club, then we’re not going to do it.

‘Initial advances for Callum were firmly rejected and they (Preston) were told the player was not for sale. That sort of rumbled on for quite a few days, but we were very, very firm with our stance and approach.

‘Then Preston came back late in the day with a much-improved proposition. We looked at it as a team - me, Rich and John - and we felt that was a good outcome for the football club.

‘We took into account Callum’s availability, he has been unavailable for 38 per cent of the games through injury. He’s not really been available to us this season.

‘Is Callum a player who can really impact us in the second half of the season? Callum Lang definitely does, but we take all things into account - and we felt it was right.

‘This was not enforced, the owners were very, very reluctant, but, in the end, we discussed it between the three of us and we felt it was a move which probably represented good business for the football club and we didn't have a problem with it.’

Wigan scheduled to receive a sell-on fee

Pompey had paid around £400,000 to recruit Lang from Wigan in January 2024, hoping he would bolster their League One promotion bid.

It proved to be an excellent capture, although persistent hamstring injuries restricted him to just 11 outings over the last 12 months.

And Wigan stand to receive a cut of his transfer to Preston, with a sell-on clause inserted in the deal which took the attacker to Fratton Park.

Cullen added: ‘Sadly we said farewell to Callum and we’re grateful for what he achieved for the football club but, ultimately, it’s a model we are trying to follow.

‘We didn’t necessarily need to make that decision in this window, but, taking all things into consideration, that’s where we got to.

‘The player always had that desire (to leave), but we were very firm. Players will understand that, if they want to move on from the football club, everything has to be right for the football club.

‘In January, for whatever reasons, clubs don’t necessarily want to sell and we made it very clear to Preston that the initial propositions they were making to us were of no interest. Then we agreed late in the day.’

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