‘All action’ - Liverpool star can offer Preston North End major boost after frustrating three months

He was Preston North End’s first signing of the summer, but Lilywhites supporters are still waiting to learn what Calvin Ramsay is all about.

An agreement to sign the Scottish defender on a season long loan deal was announced in mid-June, with Ramsay pencilled in to join up with Preston in July - following rehabilitation on a knee injury. Ramsay played just two games for Liverpool last season, having arrived from Aberdeen in the summer of 2022 for a reported total fee of £6.5million.

Ramsay was limited to appearances against Derby County and Napoli though, before a knee injury in February ruled him out of the rest of the campaign. For PNE, the signature of him appeared a real coup, and boost, given the reliance on Brad Potts last season. But, having featured a couple of times in pre-season, a recurrence of Ramsay’s injury ruled him out for - what has now been - two-and-a-half months.

Liverpool brought their player back in-house for treatment and further rehab, with Ramsay watching North End’s first 14 games from the stands and joining the squad for various pre-match meals. Ryan Lowe has said he will welcome the 20-year-old back this week, with minutes for Ramsay planned next week in the Lancashire Senior Cup - against Accrington Stanley.

Potts has played every league game this season and - after enduring a couple of three game weeks - competition down that side will certainly be welcomed. The number 44 is as athletic as they come, but work loads must be managed and rolling Potts out game after game is not ideal. Youngster Alvaro Fernandez played a big part down the left for PNE last season; there is still scope for Ramsay to do similar and have a big say.

Judging by the verdict of the Press & Journal’s Ryan Cryle - who watched plenty of Ramsay during his north of the border playing days - Preston will have a definite talent on their hands, if they can get Ramsay fit and firing once again.

“He was obviously pretty young, but very much your wing-back who drove forward at any opportunity,” Cryle told the Lancashire Post. “He was great at either running the ball to the byline or passing his way there. He has a decent cross on him and, at one point, had provided the most assists of any under-21 full-back in the world. He would often cut inside and go through the middle of the pitch - never afraid to shoot.

“His youthful exuberance was probably part of it, but it was really all-action stuff. Ramsay was taking corner and free-kicks almost immediately for Aberdeen. He’s a typical Jurgen Klopp full back for me, really. The biggest question mark was probably around his defensive positioning: getting beat too easily and letting crosses come in too easily for instance. I think the best compliment I could pay him is, when he left, most Aberdeen fans were thinking he was ready to provide sufficient back up to Trent Alexander-Arnold.”