The transfer window closes next week and usually things would be starting to heat up around now but so far things are relatively quiet for Huddersfield Town. The whole transfer market seems to be moving a lot more slowly this time around, with fewer clubs willing to spend and others not wanting to lose prize assets. Town also managed to do much of their business early in the window, which was the right thing to do but means there’s less to speculate about.
Newspapers have column inches to fill regardless of whether transfers are happening or not, so there are still a few rumours knocking around. Here I’ll try to summarise the most likely comings and goings from Huddersfield Town before the window shuts.
The tug of love over Lewis O’Brien continues
Harry Kane’s failed attempt to orchestrate a big-money move to Man City has dominated the national press all summer but in West Yorkshire we’ve had our own endless transfer saga, with everyday bringing a new story discussing Leeds’ interest in O’Brien and speculation about what’s happening behind the scenes.
We know for a fact that bids have been rejected by Town for O’Brien and that we’ve set a high valuation on the midfielder. It also seems fairly likely that O’Brien wants to leave to test himself in the Premier League. Leeds seem to be the most likely destination but the fact it’s not happened yet suggests there’s a fair distance between what they’re willing to pay and what Town want for their star midfielder. Crystal Palace have also been noted to be sniffing around but may have already moved on to other players.
Burnley and Newcastle have previously been connected with interest in O’Brien, so could swoop in late on deadline day if there’s a possibility of getting a deal done. We know from previous summer transfer windows that Phil Hodgkinson drives a hard bargain in these situations and in the case of Philip Billing and Karlan Grant he managed to get the deal he wanted in the end.
In terms of Leeds’ interest in O’Brien, the most recent update was Bielsa saying he didn’t expect any more signings this window in his press conference last Friday. Of course this could be a negotiating trick rather than an honest assessment but I suspect he doesn’t think O’Brien is worth the price we’re asking or he’s willing to wait for future transfer windows when O’Brien’s contract has run down further and our negotiating position is weaker.
Matty Longstaff on loan from Newcastle
Town have been linked among a handful of other Championship clubs as a potential destination for Newcastle’s Matty Longstaff but he’s still in Newcastle as things stand. Last night it emerged that Aberdeen were negotiating terms for the youngster with Newcastle, so it may be that Town have missed the boat with this particular transfer.
I would have thought that Newcastle would prefer their player to play in the Championship rather than the SPL as the standard of football is generally higher and more competitive. Then again, it could be that Aberdeen are willing to agree to start the player in most games, pay more of his wages or a larger loan fee.
It’s possible that Town were only interested in Longstaff as a short term replacement for Lewis O’Brien so have stalled on the deal. If that’s the case then we may have left it too late to bring him in.
Lewis Ferguson from Aberdeen
Staying in Aberdeen, there was a report in the Sunday papers suggesting Lewis Ferguson from Aberdeen might be coming to Huddersfield Town. This seems unlikely to me as Watford apparently had a £2m bid rejected earlier in the summer. Even if we got full price for Lewis O’Brien it seems unlikely we’d be paying fees in the millions for a replacement given that we’re still repaying the huge debt to our previous owner.
Ferguson would be a good option to replace O’Brien as he’s only 22 and is highly regarded in Scottish football, recently receiving a callup to the Scottish national team. He has also submitted a transfer request this summer and is reported to have been unhappy about his club declining earlier offers.
This deal will only happen if we get the right deal for O’Brien and even then I’d put it down as unlikely. But things can move quickly as the deadline approaches, so who knows?
Nahki Wells to return to Town
Apparently Bristol are willing to listen to offers for Wells so there’s a kind of logic to this rumour. We do have a tendency to rekindle old flames these days, so bringing back a player that helped guide us to promotion fits our current transfer policy.
I’m honestly a bit fed up of our recruitment focusing so much on familiar faces and would rather look to the future with our transfers. We probably need more options up front but Wells feels too similar to the strikers we already have and hasn’t exactly set the world on fire since he left Town.
Mbenza to anyone that will have him
Carlos Corberán has said that he expects Mbenza to leave this window but there have been no rumours in the media about a potential destination for him despite Town’s clear desire to get rid.
On the one hand, Mbenza’s stats for the first half of last season were superb and he was one of our star players during our run of good form leading up to Christmas. But the other side of the coin is he has shown a poor attitude at times and has put in woeful performances when his head hasn’t been in the game.
I’d have thought a French team would take a punt on him but nothing seems to have materialised yet. It may be that we are forced to loan him out to get him off the wage bill and away from the training ground. Whatever happens I can’t see him playing in a Town shirt again.
Youth players that could be loaned out
The other bits of business I can see Town doing would be to loan out some more of our youngsters to get experience. There’s a tricky balance between keeping players in the academy to absorb our own methods of playing and sending them out on loan to get used to the cut and thrust of men’s football. Having said that, I believe that the jump from non-competitive B Team football and the Championship is too large and loans provide a valuable stepping stone.
Here’s a list of players on the books that might be moving out on loan before the window closes:
- Brahima Diarra
- Pat Jones
- Ben Jackson
- Josh Austerfield
- Jon Russell
- Kian Harratt
Some of these players may be deemed close enough to the first team to be kept back to cover emergencies but I’d prefer to see as many as possible shipped out so they can get valuable experience.
I was waiting for ‘a big reveal’ which never came, TS. Still the ‘mights’ and the ‘possibles’ and the ‘unlikelies’.
2 comments from me:-
1. I said at the time of signing Holmes & Ward (and was told I was wrong by a number) that trying to turn the clock back in football (or in life generally) rarely works. Since then we’ve also had the Rhodes fiasco. So I’m with you, resist the temptation of looking at Nahki Wells.
2. I want to better understand the thinking on Diarra. I’ve seen very little of him but the little I’ve seen has left me wanting to see a lot more. Yes he’s young but he’s not a 16yr-old kid. Surely players improve by playing with and against better players? In a team like Town that is so short of creative flair, he surely ought to be tried, even if it’s only off the bench initially? To loan him out and watching him succeed at a lower level would pain me greatly.
Sadly I don’t have any inside sources, though if I did they would probably just say that there’s nothing much happening until someone offers the right amount for O’Brien.
I agree about the nostalgia signings being mostly a let down. As they all seemed to get very long contracts there’s at least time for one or two to come good.
I’m less sure Diarra is up to the standard of the Championship and while he’s clearly technically gifted he could do with getting kicked about in the lower leagues to work out how to do what he does against seasoned professionals. If he stays with us I’d be surprised if he played more than a handful of games.
It strikes me Dean Hoyle is holding things back for Town.If he was a true fan he would let Phil scale the loan down until Town started hitting the heights which they will eventually
It is a scientific fact that nothing (especially money) can escape from the big Black Hoyle!
Brilliant.
A True Town supporter wouldn’t require any of the £100M back if they still had £250M still left which Hoyle will have approximately have had left. He sold Card Factory for £350M. How much does any1 need to live in or leave their family Makes me so angry when I’m one of the main ones who led singing from back of the original Cowshed that inspired the b”””””d.
In fairness, I think the latest accounts showed that the timescale of the loan repayment had been pushed back a bit to account for the money lost due to the pandemic. So much so that the final few installments might not ever be repaid as once the parachute payments have gone we’ll not have enough coming in to repay him.
In fairness, if anybody owes Hoyle for the money he squandered on poor players it’s Phil. Not the club. Our only asset left is our parachute payment and it is being stripped from us.
Yes I know what the official statement on the repayments to Hoyle said. That doesn’t mean that none of the transfer fee money we got for Bacuna or all of it still hasn’t gone to Hoyle.
Because Phil’s going to let us down and not bring in the creative central midfield player we need now that we’ve sold someone he should be making sure comes in and all the money from Bacuna’s transfer is going to go to paying the traitor Hoyle back that’s why it’s all gone so quiet.
A bit harsh on Hoyle, he was much loved when we were doing well. Now everyone is fed up with lack of creative signings, pity in a way that O’B isn’t going so we could afford the lad from Aberdeen. A woolen town like Huddersfield has always had to cut the cloth according to our means.
It’s not harsh, it’s just the truth, true Town Supporters like me and a few others, if we still had appromicately £250M still left over, we wouldn’t require any of the £100M paid back to us.
I’ve heard that we’re looking at Bishop at Accrington Stanley. He’s a big lad with pace and strength, but the risk is always, can he be the next Vardy or has he found his level?
Excited to see Danel start after Tuesday night. Could be that safecracker we’ve been missing.
The Dean Hoyle thing has got like Coronation St, its gone on too long and its got totaly boring, thank goodness we are not Sheff Wed or even Sheff Utd. we have now got some young exciting players in Karoma, Sinani, Thomas, Colwill, and his new collegue from Chelsea at centre forward, backed by a set of minders, Hogg , Pearson, Toffollo, Lees, and Nicholls, etc to look after them, cant remember looking forward to a season as much since the Ian Greaves, Mick Buxton days, if Carlos can get these players to give Reading like performances as a norm instead of the exeption we will have a good season, lets confine last season and all that went on to the dustbin and get behind the Blue and White stripes, and every Town supporter get behind the club. UTT.