It's been a rather eventful season to be a Preston North End fan this campaign, with the club changing manager, looking impressive and now potentially having change at the top too.

After years of ownership led by the Hemmings family with Trevor Hemmings at the forefront, his unfortunate passing led to his son Craig taking over at Deepdale. However, there have been rumblings in recent weeks that Chris Kirchner fancies taking over with the Lilywhites and a report from LancsLive claims talks are ongoing and are going 'positively.'

A deal remains some way off - which is no surprise considering the amount of effort that goes into a takeover - and an agreement could still yet collapse. If it does go through though, then it could lead to a lot more funds becoming available for the Lilywhites.

 

 

While that also isn't clear yet - North End will surely only know how much money Kirchner has and how much he is willing to spend if and when he does become owner - there is a hope it could lead to more spending.

Obviously, that shouldn't mean spending silly amounts of money and doing more harm than good. At the end of the day, most PNE fans will be happy just as long as he backs them, keeps them well-funded and ticking along as Hemmings has and then potentially splashes the cash when needed.

However, if there is an initial surplus of funds from Kirchner, then one name that the side should target more than any other if a deal goes through is Daniel Iversen.

He is one of just three loan stars currently at Deepdale that have impressed and, in an ideal world, Preston would keep all three. If you can only keep hold of one though, then it should be the shot-stopper.

Yes, the goals of Cameron Archer have been superb and he is quite clearly a natural finisher with a lot of potential. Yes, Sepp van den Berg is also solid at the back and is a real, underrated fan favourite. However, the impact of Iversen cannot be understated.

The goalkeeper has proven that having a solid shot-stopper is just as important as a lethal finisher. He has won the side points on his own with a number of world-class saves. At the weekend for example, Preston managed to beat Bournemouth 2-1 in what was an excellent victory for the side. They might never have got to that point if not for an unbelievable reaction save from the Dane to stop a Nat Phillips header from finding the back of the net.

It isn't the first time it has happened either. Iversen has produced save after save at key moments throughout this campaign and the last. PNE arguably still have some play-off hopes this year but without the goalkeeper, they would certainly be a lot further down the table, regardless of how many goals they have scored.

It's all well and good Archer scoring two but if their defence concedes three, then it matters not. Iversen though is a calming and reassuring presence at the back and instantly makes the Preston defence hard to beat. He's conceded just 40 in 36 this year and has eleven clean sheets to boot - making him one of the best in his position in the entire league.

He has been completely invaluable to PNE and they would be a lot worse off without him. When he eventually goes back to Leicester, it will be a huge loss for the club. Without Kirchner, there doesn't look like much hope of a permanent deal being done for him. If the American does complete a takeover though - and has the funds to splash at least some cash - then the side need to do whatever it takes to target Iversen above anyone else in the transfer window.

If they can land him, it would be a massive coup for the side and could help them in their bid to push on next season.