Preston sign Oliveira on loan

Preston manager Billy Davies has completed the signing of Chelsea’s Portuguese midfielder Felipe Oliveira on a month’s loan.

North End initially approached the Barclays Premiership giants in August under previous boss Craig Brown, and Davies also had an inquiry turned down in October.

But Davies has finally got his man and the 20-year-old, who was signed by Claudio Ranieri from Porto for £140,000 (€203,700) in 2001 and turned down an offer from a top-flight Portuguese club to go to Deepdale, is set to make his debut against West Ham on Saturday.

Davies, who would not rule out a permanent move, said: “We’ve been looking at him for a long time and he’s got wonderful ability, and he’s a great creator of goals and very capable of scoring goals as well.

“He’s a very good addition to the squad. We’ll encourage him to just get on the ball, make some passes and do what he’s good at.

“We’re delighted because there was a Portuguese club after him as well and we’re just delighted to have him here and get it finally done.

“I had a good chat with Stevie Clarke and Chelsea were excellent but they know they’re sending him to a good place.

“As far as we’re concerned, we’re also looking and hoping we can make it a long-term fixture.”