Preston boss Paul Heckingbottom lifts lid on January spending power amid £1.5m bid for Portsmouth man Callum Lang
Preston North End are believed to have had a £1.5m bid for Pompey’s Callum Lang rejected this month.
Preston North End boss Paul Heckingbottom has lifted the lid on the Lilywhites’ January spending situation amid reports of a £1.5m Callum Lang bid.
The forward is at the heart of transfer drama this month, with North End reigniting their interest in the Fratton favourite after a failed summer swoop.
Reports later emerged claiming the Blues had rejected a fresh offer by the Lancashire outfit for the 27-year-old, who enters the final six months of his terms - although John Mousinho’s men do hold an extra 12-month option.
Preston have had a strong Championship campaign and occupy the final play-off position, having picked up 43 points from their opening 28 games to date.
But as Heckingbottom looks to strengthen ahead of a crucial Premier League push, the head coach has opened up on his side’s current spending situation.
Paul Heckingbottom lifts lid on Preston spending powers amid Lang bid
The North End has admitted Preston’s financial powers are forcing them to look at all loan options as they attempt to capitalise on any ‘contract situations’ elsewhere.
He told our sister paper, the Lancashire Evening Post: ‘Yeah, it just depends how deals are structured.
‘We've been looking at loans with options, loans with obligations for the summer, straight loan deals. So yeah, trying to capitalise on any contract situations.
‘It's, again, the position we're in and how we work. Players want to come and play here.
‘It's a fantastic club and people understand what we're trying to do, which is good.
‘It is tough, it's challenging, but like I said it's exciting and you have to be really motivated to get things done and over the line.
‘We'll continue to do that, but bringing someone in just for a number, for the sake of it, for a headline is the wrong thing to do.’
Paul Heckingbottom’s Preston transfer admission
Lang is, of course, heading into the final six months of his current two-and-a-half-year deal at Fratton Park - although Pompey do hold an extra 12-months of his contract.
Heckingbottom went on to suggest Preston won’t look at signing players for the sake of recruiting unless they can strengthen his squad.
He added: ‘Listen, it's always a big time but yeah, that's how I feel. I think longer term and I want everyone to understand, every window is a chance to get better and improve.
‘No matter where you are, what you're doing, if you aren't coming out in a better position, or there's not something being done towards a longer term strategy if you like, then you're failing - someone's not doing a job properly.
‘But with the big changeover we had, how hard everyone's working, the players, the staff, it's a feel-good thing as well. It gives everyone a lift. So there's just an emotional and a psychological aspect to it as well. I think you just take everything on its merits, consider where you are as a club and go from there.
‘That's not to say you do players for the sake of it. Initially, you might get that lift, but if I can't envisage that player playing minutes, contributing, then it's pointless.
‘And again, you have got to be frugal... you have got to be conscious of the money that you're spending. So to get those players that we think will add to what we're doing and then longer term help us improve, is what we're trying to do.’
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