This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Despite Ryan Lowe wanting to build a long-term squad at Preston North End, he could lose a whole host of players this coming summer with their contracts set to expire.
The Lilywhites have no fewer than nine players coming to the end of their current deals, with the club only having the option to automatically extend one of those in the form of attacking midfielder Ben Woodburn.
Long-serving individuals Daniel Johnson, Greg Cunningham and Sean Maguire fall into the soon-to-be out of contract bracket, whilst another player in Ryan Ledson is also coming close to the end.
The 25-year-old was signed from Oxford United in the summer of 2018 and has completed four full seasons at North End, winning their Player of the Season in an underwhelming 2020-21 campaign.
However, regular starts have been harder to come by under Lowe, who favours a midfield three containing Ben Whiteman, Alan Browne and one of Ali McCann or Daniel Johnson for the most part.
Even though Ledson has appeared 18 times in the Championship this season and has played in 130 matches for PNE in his career, there's still a chance that he may not be offered a new deal, and FLW's North End fan pundit Sam Weeden thinks that, in what could potentially go against the grain, the ex-Everton man should be let go at the end of the current season.
"To be honest and I know this is going to be a really unpopular opinion as he's a bit of a cult hero amongst many in the North End faithful, but I probably wouldn't look to offer Ryan Ledson a new contract," Sam said.
"I think he's probably one of our most over-rated players - I see what he brings to the camp, he has that tenacity and tough-tackling in midfield, but I think in the recent games where Ben Whiteman has been injured, you can see a real lack of quality compared to what Whiteman offers.
"His passing range isn't unbelievable, he can pick up some silly bookings, he's quite rash, probably not someone who you'll expect to see play 30-40 games a season and being consistent.
"If that's not the case then I probably wouldn't be offering him a new deal - however I do think he's great around the place, he seems like a cult hero to the fans, seems to get on with the players and coaches.
"But in regards of offering him a new deal, that's not quite enough nowadays - you need the player to offer something on the pitch and I'm not sure he does that enough."
The Verdict
Ledson was the best of an average bunch in the eyes of the fans in the 2020-21 season when Alex Neil was sacked, but he's never quite been that player since.
He wasn't always utilised last season by Frankie McAvoy and then Ryan Lowe, and despite having some runs in the starting 11 in 2022-23, he has still only started 10 times in 21 Championship matches that North End have contested.
If Ledson is looking for regular football, then he perhaps may not even consider penning a new deal should North End offer him one.
His abilities certainly split opinion in the fanbase as Sam has shown, and it is not clear-cut as to whether an extension will be put on the table.