The pair had excellent loan spells from Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur
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“Yeah.” - That was Preston North End manager Paul Heckingbottom’s response to two questions after the final day defeat to Southampton.
The first, from BBC Radio Lancashire, was: ‘The loan signings that you've had this year have been popular and done well for you. Is there a realistic chance that Preston could retain any of those next year, either on loan or as a permanent transfer?’
When asked a follow-up question as to whether he feels confident that might happen, Heckingbottom nodded and uttered a ‘mm-hmm’ noise to suggest yes once again.
Clearly, given their efforts across the 2025/26 season, Alfie Devine and Lewis Dobbin are the two stand out names, but Heckingbottom has also implied he’d be keen to reunite with AFC Bournemouth striker Daniel Jebbison.
As for Devine, it was a question around him which brought about the second reply of, ‘Yeah’. That was: ‘With Alfie, you've got the buy option so that feels a bit more realistic. Are you expecting the club to try everything they can to do that?’
On the loan man, Heckingbottom added: “He's a good lad. He's done well, he's improved, he's growing up - similar to Dobbo, similar to Jebbo. I can see why (he’s so popular). We want good players and I think there's more to come from him, definitely.”
There is no buy-option inserted in Dobbin’s agreement and the Aston Villa man’s messaging in recent weeks has suggested a return is unlikely, despite how much he has enjoyed his time at Deepdale - particularly as a team mate of Devine.
The forward was bought for £9million in June 2024 - albeit as part of a PSR-led deal involving Villa and Everton. Given his attacking output this year, though - 11 goals and eight assists - does Heckingbottom think a deal may be unrealistic for Preston?
“It depends,” said the PNE boss. “You're asking me today, no one's come in with any money for him today. Likewise, no one's made an offer to Villa yet. But would I keep him? 100 per cent. Can we? Not right now, no.”
Jebbison didn’t hit the heights of Devine and Dobbin in terms of numbers, but had a season of the most consistent game time yet. The player-coach relationship is strong given their past at Sheffield United and the Canadian chipped in with six goals.
On whether he will ask the question again this summer, Heckingbottom said: “Yeah, listen I'll ask about every single player out there. We're looking at everyone but it depends what we've got to play with.”