Preston insist they have received no acceptable bids for any of their players as they hit out at several unnamed clubs for “attempting to do their bidding through the press and social media”.

Daniel Johnson was not in Preston’s matchday squad as the Lilywhites started their Sky Bet Championship campaign with a 1-0 defeat at home to Swansea at the weekend, leading to further scrutiny on his future.

The attacking midfielder has been heavily linked with a move north of the border to Rangers while it has been reported that centre-back Ben Davies is attracting interest from Championship rivals Bournemouth.

While North End did not mention any players or clubs specifically by name in a statement attributed to Peter Ridsdale, the owner’s representative, they say they have been moved to act after growing tired of rumour-mongering.

“Ordinarily we don’t comment on transfer speculation, however, the last few days have been frustrating as it would appear that a number of clubs are attempting to do their bidding through the press and social media,” the statement said.

“Some of the so called ‘informed’ comments have claimed that transfer fees have been agreed between us and at least one other club for named players.

“At the time of writing this statement no bids for any of our players have been agreed. Any approaches that have been made have been underwhelming in both quantum and payment timescales.

“We have always accepted that buying and selling players is a normal part of our business, but at the right price. Some of the so called ‘informed’ comments on social media are not only unhelpful, but frankly not true.

“We attempt to conduct our transfer dealings club to club and only announce a deal once all parties have agreed. We have made bids for a number of players this summer but as deals were not finalised we have refrained from confirming the identity of potential targets. This will remain to be our approach.

“If and when there is anything definitive to say for either incomings or sales we will make a factual statement at that time.”