Sheffield Wednesday were linked with a horde of names in the summer. Some joined, whilst others didn’t.
And one of those who was linked but didn’t join in the end was Preston North End defender Jordan Storey.
The 26-year-old impressed during a brief spell on loan at Hillsborough during the 2021/22 season, and Darren Moore was reportedly keen on bringing him back to Wednesday for this 2023/24 campaign.
Soon after though, Moore left, and it quickly became clear that Storey was going to play an important role for Ryan Lowe’s Preston; and that’s exactly what he’s done.
The defender has played every minute of every Championship game for Preston so far this season.
His side have won four of their opening five games, drawing the other to find themsleves in 1st place of the table with 13 points on the board already.
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As per WhoScored, Storey is the Lilywhites’ four-best performer so far this season with an average match rating of 7.14, and Storey has also drawn praise from the local press too.
Assessing the Preston man’s start to the season, Lancashire Evening Post’s George Hodgson rated Storey as an 8/10 so far, writing:
“[Storey] Can be pleased with his performances so far. Has not look overly troubled, a couple of loose moments against Swansea City aside perhaps. Solid last time out at Stoke and has not allowed summer recruit Jack Whatmough to dislodge him in the back three. PNE have been using his aerial ability to get them higher up the pitch, quicker.”
A missed opportunity for Xisco and Wednesday…
Storey may well have been a target during Moore’s time at the club this summer. But the Preston man would still have been a quality signing for Munoz, albeit a very ambitious one.
Storey has quickly shown his worth at Preston having gone into this summer not knowing whether or not he’d be a regular starter this time round, hence his earlier links to Wednesday.
The Owls signed a few defenders this summer in names like Do’Shon Bernard, Bambo Diaby, but bringing in Storey would’ve been a masterstroke from the club.