Preston North End have come to a pre-contract agreement with former Morecambe forward Tom Barkhuizen.
The 23-year-old recently cancelled his contract with the north Lancashire side, but will sign a two-and-a-half year deal with the Lilywhites on January 1st. In the meantime he will train with the North End squad.
The club has also agreed a compensation package with Morecambe, who retained their rights when cancelling his contract.
Speaking about his new recruit, who will take the No.29 shirt on signing in 2017, manager Simon Grayson said: “We have watched Tom a lot over the last few months and Steve Thompson worked with him previously. We were impressed by him when we played against Morecambe in pre-season and the reports back have all been very good and that he would fit into how we want to play.
“He is a flexible player, who is quick and has good energy about him and we felt this was a good opportunity for us to get a player who is hungry, has got desire, had good technical ability and can play in a number of positions.
“He’s not the finished article; as many players we bring to this football club aren’t, but he is another one we hope we can make better and thus make us better. We are trying to build a squad that has a lot more pace about it and Tom certainly has that in abundance.”
The player, who will not be able to play for the club until the first ever trip to Burton on January 2nd, was looking forward to getting started. He said: “Agreeing the pre-contract deal now, I get the opportunity to bed myself in before I can play again.
“I can get used to how we play and how the lads play and I can be ready to go from the 2nd January. I am really looking forward to it; I think this will be a really good challenge for me and hopefully I can do well for the club and help the lads.”