Championship club chief outlines potential 'problem' with Leeds United loan deal as permanent clause detailed

Preston North End chairman Peter Ridsdale has suggested they could face some issues signing Sam Greenwood permanently if Leeds United are promoted this summer - although it is unclear what they may be.

Greenwood was one of the first to leave Leeds in this window after agreeing a season-long loan move to Deepdale, having seen Middlesbrough opt against an option to sign him for a reported £1.5million. The attacking midfielder spent the previous campaign working under Michael Carrick but despite a solid return of five goals and three assists, didn’t do enough to find himself a permanent home.

Preston are believed to have agreed on a similar deal, welcoming Greenwood on loan initially before making a more long-term decision in 12 month’s time. But a relatively simple deal on the surface doesn’t appear to be so, with Ridsdale describing negotiations with Leeds as ‘not the easiest’ while also suggesting promotion for the Whites would affect the permanent option.

“Ryan [Lowe, Preston manager] and I met Sam, with his father, when I was on holiday in June,” Ridsdale told the Lancashire Post. “Then, it was a question of getting the deal done with Leeds United - which was not the easiest, as he’d been out on loan last year and there was a base contribution that somebody else had made. We didn’t want to go as far as that, so it took some negotiating.

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“But, the deal was done and the great thing was that Sam and his dad made it absolutely clear they wanted to join us - when we met them. That was good news, getting that out of the way and we then inserted an option to purchase, should we wish, at the end of the season. That is slightly complicated, because of Sam’s personal circumstances, subject to whether Leeds get promoted.

“Time will tell and we’ll see what happens there. That deal, the easiest bit is that the option-to-buy is an agreed price between Leeds United and Preston North End. It’s a classic case, isn’t it? If the loan doesn’t go OK, you don’t want to pay the fee; if the loan does go OK, everybody thinks the fee is too low or the two clubs fall out over the fee or whatever it is.

“In this case, the fee is agreed. If Sam loves us and we love him, the transfer fee between the two clubs is not a problem. It might become marginally more of a problem, were Leeds to be promoted - because Sam isn’t out of contract next summer.”

Greenwood has impressed in the early weeks of his Preston stint, with his signature left-foot picking passes and letting off shots during his side’s pre-season friendlies. The 22-year-old will hope for another year of regular football although he will not be eligible when the Lilywhites face parent club Leeds, the first meeting of which comes at Deepdale in mid-December.