Preston boss claims Everton ‘moved goalposts’ over £7.5m Tom Cannon transfer

Preston boss Ryan Lowe has opened up about his club’s pursuit of Everton striker Tom Cannon.

The 20-year-old forward is expected to join Leicester City in a permanent deal. The ECHO understands that Everton have agreed a fee that could reach up to £7.5m for the Republic of Ireland Under-21 international, whose future with the Blues has been a topic of discussion throughout the summer.

Cannon spent the second half of last season on loan at Preston North End, scoring eight goals in 20 appearances, and the Lancashire side thought they were close to bringing the young forward back to Deepdale. However, Preston boss Lowe has explained how discussions with Everton led PNE to miss out on one of their top targets.

“Earlier on with Tom, we had a verbal agreement to take him on loan and gave them all the money they wanted,” Lowe said, as reported by the Lancashire Post. “Then, the goalposts got changed to say that they weren’t loaning him out now and that they wanted to sell him. [Owner Craig Hemmings] stumped up the money to get him, but the kid chose somewhere else, so we moved on to our next targets.

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“We were promised a loan in all honesty, early doors, and that’s why we waited. Then the goalposts got moved a week or so ago, to say they wanted to see who was going to buy him. The deal was obviously over the contract, but to get to that type of money it was pleasing for me as the manager.”

Lowe praised the Preston hierarchy for ‘banging their heads together’ and meeting Everton’s demands for a permanent move, which would have been a club-record deal. Preston initially