This piece started out as one about Greg Cunningham’s return on loan to Preston North End but it would be remiss not to discuss the other rumours and bits of news that have also done the rounds today as it’s been a pretty busy day to say the least.
We’ll start with the only official piece of news from the day and that is the return of one of the best left backs I’ve seen in my time supporting North End. Greg Cunningham rejoined North End on a loan deal from Cardiff City until the end of the season when his current contract with the Welsh club expires and he becomes a free agent.
Speaking to the club about returning to Deepdale, Greg said: “There is unfinished business. It has probably been the best time of my career at this club and I want to get back to those times again, get playing games and repay the club.”
You can read more from Greg by visiting the club’s website here .
The question many of you might be asking is will he stay beyond this current loan deal? Who knows. Let’s hope he manages to stay fit and rekindles the form he showed when he was here the first time around and we might get to see Greg stick around for longer.
Personally, am I happy that Greg is back at the club? Absolutely but he’s not had much luck recently with injuries recently has he?
His last 5 seasons, have gone as follows…
Cunningham’s last 6 seasons (league games started)
— oli (@gorn__) January 26, 2021
2015/16: 43
2016/17: 40
2017/18: 20 (big injury)
2018/19: 7
2019/20: 8
2020/21: 3 (so far)
15/16 – 16/17: +- 8000 minutes
17/18 onwards: +- 3500 minutes
Short loan is low risk but can he stay fit? #pnefc
All we can do at the minute is be happy that he has returned to the club and hope that the manager can get him back to playing at the level he was at during his first time at the club. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing him in a North End shirt again. Welcome back, Greg.
Now, for some other news, transfer rumours and and a few other bits that have been doing the rounds today. It’s felt like deadline day so far today as a North End fan and we’ve still got another 4 days of the window to go!
Darnell Fisher
It’s been confirmed by our friend over at LancsLive tonight that North End have indeed accepted a bid for Darnell Fisher.
The bid is believed to be from Middlesbrough and in the region of £300k. As we all know, he’s out of contract at the end of the season and this has been a bit of a funny season for Darnell. He’s been in and out of the side with injuries but recently he’s been left on the bench.
There has long been speculation surrounding Darnell’s future and it looks as though his time in a North End shirt will soon be coming to an end.
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Ben Pearson
According to reports on twitter and elsewhere, Ben Pearson looks like he’s going to secure his move away from Deepdale in the next day or so.
It’s been reported that he’s agreed terms with Bournemouth and is expected on the south coast soon to complete the formalities of the move.
Just feel like he’s much better than this. 😭😭😭 https://t.co/TWJNUVo4zg
— Jake (@jioates) January 28, 2021
It’s a move that will no doubt be good for Ben personally but I can’t help but feel that he’s much, much better than that. It’s a bit of an underwhelming one for me at least. If he’d have moved to one of the two big clubs in Scotland, he’d have had the opportunity to play European football, in front of 50/60,000 plus fans every week and compete for silverware. If he’d have gone to the Premier League, that’s easily his level but (no disrespect to Bournemouth here), I think he’s better than the Cherries.
They currently sit 11 points adrift of top spot in the Championship but are only 5 points short of second placed Swansea City and of course, occupy 6th spot themselves but I just feel like he’s selling himself short. Obviously, that won’t be the case should they find themselves promoted come the end of the season. I don’t know, perhaps I’m just bitter about it.
Now, for the next Ben…
Ben Davies
It’s been speculated for a while now that Celtic were interested in Ben Davies and according to reports today, he’s headed up to Scotland at the end of the season on a free transfer.
BREAKING: Preston North End defender Ben Davies has signed a pre-contract agreement with Celtic.
— Anthony Joseph (@AnthonyRJoseph) January 28, 2021
Numerous places have reported that he has “signed” a pre-contract agreement with the soon-to-be former Scottish Champions but according to The S**, Celtic are keen to get a deal done this window and our friend George at LancsLive has already stated that should the Cumbrian leave this month, we will bring in a replacement for him.
No doubt, like Pearo, it will be sad to see him leave but he’ll go with mine and I’m sure many other North End fans best wishes.
Josh Earl
This one probably won’t come as a surprise to many now that Greg is back in the building but Josh Earl looks set to join Burton Albion and former North End assistant manager Dino Maamria on loan for the remainder of the season.
Preston North End defender Josh Earl is set to join Burton Albion on loan for the rest of the season. #PNEFC #bafc
— Pete O'Rourke (@SportsPeteO) January 28, 2021
It would do his development no good to be sat on the bench being third choice, we said it last season and again now, he’s in need of a consistent run of games for the good of his career. All the best to Josh and hopefully he learns a lot, gets a lot of game time and comes back ready to crack on again next season.
Anthony Gordon
After Alex Neil said recently that he wanted to strengthen the side in our wide areas, we’ve now been linked with an Everton academy product.
According to Football Insider, both ourselves and Blackburn Rovers have opened “preliminary talks” with Everton to take the 19-year-old on loan for the rest of the season. However, the possibility of this happening might depend on whether or not Everton can shift an attacker themselves.
The Liverpool ECHO claims that Gordon’s departure would depend on whether or not they can get Brazilian attacker Bernard out of the club. Failure to do that and it might open the door for Gordon to join North End, should the clubs agree a deal and of course, the player wants to come here.
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If this one comes off, it might be a deal that happens late in the window but there are a lot of things hanging on this one at the moment.
Sepp van den Berg
Staying in Merseyside for this next, and final one. Again, according to Football Insider, we’re “leading the race” to sign young Dutch defender Sepp van den Berg on loan for the rest of the season.
EXCLUSIVE!✅
— Football Insider (@footyinsider247) January 28, 2021
– Preston North End in pole position to sign Liverpool defender Sepp van den Berg.✍️
– Championship & Euro clubs are racing to land centre-back on loan by next Monday.https://t.co/KRxVESJYo0#lfc #pne pic.twitter.com/ZxGUPTPhQe
If we get this one done, it reads as though we might have beaten off competition from other Championship and European clubs. However, it looks as though it would be another loan deal and given we already have Ched Evans, Jayson Molumby, Daniel Iversen and now Greg Cunningham on loan, we only have one more loan spot to use in the match day squad.
Should we sign both van den Berg and Gordon, 6 into 5 doesn’t go so that would mean one of the 6 loanees miss out on a match day.
It’s going to be an interesting final few days of the window for North End with plenty of comings and goings still to be confirmed but let us know, what would you like to see happen before the 11pm deadline on Monday 1st February?
Make sure you’re giving us a follow on twitter to keep up with the news from Deepdale. We’re just @fromthefinney. Also, if you haven’t yet listened, the latest episode of the From the Finney podcast is available to stream now on the majority of streaming platforms, or just press play below.
