Jordan Storey: Inside scoop on how Sheffield Wednesday beat off interest from Sunderland and Ipswich Town to loan signing of PNE defender

Jordan Storey has completed a loan switch from Preston North End to Sheffield Wednesday.

The Star understands that Wednesday were the first League One club to formally register their interest in the defender once it was made clear he could be made available for loan this month.

Storey, a talented 24-year-old defender, had been a mainstay of the North End side under Alex Neil and Frankie McAvoy but has fallen out of favour under Ryan Lowe.

Interest from their two rivals came about in the coming days and the deal was accelerated at Preston’s end once Sunderland announced the signing of Danny Batth.

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Wednesday’s opening offer was deemed unacceptable and after a back-and-forth wrestle on wage contribution, Wednesday had their man with Storey travelling to Hillsborough to complete the deal on Tuesday evening while his North End teammates were playing out a 2-2 Deepdale draw with Sheffield United.

It is understood that Lowe, a former Wednesday striker, has made it clear to Storey that his time with the Championship club is not over and that he should use the likelihood of regular playing time at Hillsborough to show what he can do.

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Wednesday are not believed to have any buy-out clause at the end of the deal and Preston will be sending representatives to watch Storey on regular occasions.

Part of the motivation behind Preston’s release of Storey to Wednesday is to free up space in a crammed Preston squad and to free up a chunk of wages for Lowe to re-mould the squad he took over last month.