Preston North End have beaten off a host of clubs to sign Manchester City’s England U21 striker Lukas Nmecha on a season-long loan.
The German-born centre forward, who played in Aidy Boothroyd’s Toulon Tournament winning young Lions squad in the summer, completed his move at Deepdale on transfer deadline day and, subject to the appropriate clearances, will be available to make his debut at Swansea City on Saturday.
Lukas, who has taken the No.45 shirt in Alex Neil’s squad at Deepdale, has played for England through all the age groups, also winning the EUROs in 2017 with the U19s.
He has been with City through their youth system for over a decade, making his senior debut for Pep Guardiola’s side in the EFL Cup in December 2017, scoring the third penalty in their penalty shootout win over Leicester City.
He made his Premier League debut in April 2018, as a late substitute for Gabriel Jesus against West Ham United at the London Stadium and was involved in several games during the 2018/19 pre-season tour in the USA, competing in the 2018 International Champions Cup. The 19-year-old scored his first goal at first team level in a 3-2 win over a strong Bayern Munich side.
Speaking after completing the move Lukas said: “Alex Neil has been a big part of my decision to sign. He is very passionate about the game and I am excited by the style of play that the club have been playing.
“This season we can go a long way. We play great football and I am here to add goals to the team. I am here to develop and give the club the best I can.”
Whilst manager Alex Neil felt the move showed the club’s progress: “We have been targeting this for a while now. I believe we have signed one of the brightest centre forwards in the country at his age group.
“Manchester City have got really high hopes for him. He has spent the last six months training with their first team and we have managed to persuade him that the next stage of his development is to come and play for Preston North End.
“I think it a huge compliment of what we are trying to do and hopefully this will be a mutually beneficial move for both parties.”