Preston and Cardiff are battling to sign the “best” player Rotherham is willing to sell

Preston North End and Cardiff City are now interested in signing Rotherham United star Denzel Hall in the summer transfer window.

Rotherham are keen to sell Denzel Hall this summer

Preston will be looking to kick off the Championship next season, after finishing in 14th place, with 60 points meaning they are never in relegation trouble, but are also 13 points short of the play-offs.

On the other hand, Cardiff are preparing for their first season back in the second tier, having secured automatic promotion to League One at the first attempt, with 91 points securing the Welsh side's second place finish.

As such, there is plenty of reason for optimism in Cardiff, but the same cannot be said for Rotherham, who will be playing League Two football for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign next season, after finishing second from bottom in League One.

The Millers have been a yo-yo club between the Championship and League One for the past decade or so, but with their relegation to the fourth tier, it could be difficult to convince their top players to stay at the club after the summer.

According to a report from Football Insider, Rotherham are now willing to accept bids for Hall when the summer transfer window opens, despite the right-back remaining under contract until 2028.

Cardiff are poised to sign the 24-year-old, with the newly-promoted club considering furthering their interest, having confirmed that he will be available.

There will be competition to sign a full-back, with Preston also keen, and there is a feeling they may have the edge over the Bluebirds, given they are more established at Championship level.

Hall, who can play at right-back and centre-back, was hailed as “outstanding” by scout Jacek Kulig, and made 27 appearances for Rotherham in League One last season, scoring three goals and providing two assists.

An update appears on Preston and Cardiff's summer transfer plans

Paul Heckingbottom has confirmed that bringing new options back on the agenda in the summer, but the Preston boss wants to strengthen in other areas, as long as he is given the resources.

When asked if his full-back options were adequate, Heckingbottom said: “No, I want to improve. I want to improve everywhere. This is the name of the game and I am not saying that this is what is happening in our team, but if we think that there is a good loan that we can bring and he wants to come and play for us, then we have a decision: are we going to send one of our players? If we think that we can send a player to improve, we have to do that.”

Meanwhile, Cardiff have been working around the clock to extend the contract of left-back Joel Bagan, amid interest from Ipswich Town, while it has also been widely reported that Brian Barry-Murphy has traveled to Malaysia to discuss summer transfer plans with Vincent Tan.

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