Exeter City’s insistence on a substantial sell-on clause for any players that have moved on is shrewd business and likely to earn them millions in years to come.
The likes of Matt Grimes, Ollie Watkins, Ethan Ampadu and Jordan Storey have all left St James Park for sizeable fees and as part of their transfer, the club have negotiated sell-on clauses from any further sales.
But while many have spoken about Watkins, who was linked with a £20 million move to the Premier League during the January transfer window, as being the man most likely to move on first and earn City money, the emergence of Storey as a first team regular at Preston has led to him earning rave reviews and a comparison to former Manchester United and England star Rio Ferdinand.
One man who sees Storey, now 21, up close is the Lillywhites’ goalkeeper Declan Rudd, who has his own nickname for the cool, composed and rapidly improving defender.
“I call him the Exeter Rio Ferdinand,” said Rudd, who made his 100th league start for Preston in their 3-1 win against Norwich City at Deepdale in midweek. “Jordan makes the game look so easy. To come in and play as well as he has done at this level, after not many games in senior football, is superb.
“I don’t think something like that happens very often if the truth be told. “There is lots to admire about how Jordan and Ben (Davies) link up together and have performed recently,” Rudd added in an interview with the LEP.
Storey’s rise has been meteoric to say the least. At the start of last season, he was seventh choice centre back at Exeter and sent out on loan to Dorchester to help develop his game. An injury crisis led to him being recalled and thrust into the first team and he ended the campaign by starting the League Two play-off final at Wembley, which the Grecians lost 3-1 to Coventry City.
Storey’s rapid rise caught the eye of Preston, who splashed out £750,000 to take him to Deepdale in the summer and while he got a brief taste of action early in the season, he had to be patient before really getting his chance.
When it came, he took it with both hands and his superb form has been one of the reasons why Preston have climbed the Championship table off the back of four wins and three draws in their last seven matches.
The play-offs may be just beyond their reach this season, they are seven points adrift with 13 games to play, but with the likes of Storey, Davies and another former Grecian, striker Jayden Stockley, manager Alex Neil is building a young, hungry and talented squad that could go that extra step next season.
