Championship side Preston North End are considering a late move for League One shot stopper Sam Tickle from Wigan Athletic.
The youngster has been the subject of several transfer stories since the summer, since establishing himself as one of the standout players in League One last season. His performances for the Latics attracted the interest of Premier League giants Arsenal, who were hoping to add him to their ranks in the summer. However, despite agreeing a deal with Wigan, the player opted to remain at the club and continue his development.
Tickle has been the subject of non-stop transfer stories, Plymouth Argyle reportedly made an approach earlier last season, Manchester United held some interest in the summer and Sunderland have also been linked. Preston North End previously had a bid rejected for Tickle according to Pete O’Rourke and now according to Alan Nixon, they could make a further move should Freddie Woodman depart.
Sam Tickle’s Interest
Despite the constant noise surrounding him, the youngster has opted to remain in League One up until this point, with the goalkeeper reportedly believing it is best for his career. The closest he came to departing was to Arsenal, but with little chance of breaking into the first team any time soon it would have perhaps been damaging to his development.
The move to Preston could be more interesting, should Woodman depart there is a clearer opportunity to step into a Championship side’s first team. But it does feel as though there is some loyalty to Wigan from the player and the League One side clearly do not want to lose one of their star assets for a lower fee than they feel they should get.
At this stage of the window, to replace a player of Tickle’s quality would be extremely difficult especially with the competition in the market, so it is doubtful this move will come to fruition in this window.