Alan Nixon, a journalist that often has stories about goings on behind the scenes at Huddersfield Town, has said on Twitter that Town are currently sniffing around three different midfielders.
The journalist expressed his surprise at the club pursuing three targets for the same position but our squad is so things I wouldn’t be stunned if this report turned out to be true.
Who could the three midfield targets be?
Nixon didn’t expand upon who these players were but I’m willing to speculate about who at least two of them could be.
Bear in kind this is just me putting together past rumours and isn’t based on any inside knowledge.
Seem to have three midfielders on the go. Can’t work out that one at all … https://t.co/gCFQoy7K2h
— Alan Nixon (@reluctantnicko) September 15, 2020
Robbie Gotts from Leeds
Robbie Gotts has been linked with Town throughout the transfer window. The Leeds Under 23 player is well known by Head Coach Carlos Corberán and is likely to be surplus to requirements at Leeds this season.
It has previously been reported that Leeds had cooled on the deal as they were concerned about a lack of midfield cover. It’s also not clear if Gotts fits the new rules we have for loans of being either a significant step up on what we have or a loan with an option to buy at the end. The latter seems unlikely so Gotts would need to dramatically improve our midfield.
James Garner on loan from Manchester United
The other long-standing rumour had been James Garner at Manchester United coming in on loan. He’s an aggressive defensive midfielder with decent ability on the ball. I really liked the look of him when he played against Town in preseason.
It tends to be the norm these days for top Premier League clubs to expect fees for loaning out their future stars and there are often stipulations in the deal about game time.
So agreeing this deal could be complicated by these factors. If I was a head coach I wouldn’t be too keen on having my team selections dictated by the terms of contracts rather than picking the best possible eleven.
Who is the third?
If I’m right about the first two of these three rumoured deals then I’m at a loss to suggest who the third could be.
I can’t imagine we’d want too many more loans though, so hopefully it would be a permanent transfer.
Gotts and Garner are both young lads, so a more experienced player would make sense. Our squad generally lacks experience, so a leader in midfield who knows the division would be useful.
The future of Lewis O’Brien?
Last night a Burnley fan asked Alan Nixon if there was any progress on Lewis O’Brien signing for them. His answer wasn’t all that reassuring.
Rather than saying the deal was dead in the water, he pointed out that O’Brien’s injury and off the field issues at Burnley meant there wasn’t any progress.
This suggests that a deal could still happen if O’Brien gets fit and Burnley get their act together.
I’m willing to understand the reasons behind selling Karlan Grant but losing Lewis O’Brien would be a real blow for Town. He’s the kind of player we should build our team around not sell after one good season.
Been injured. Hasn’t helped. Or Huddersfield failing to sign any players … or Burnley squabbling with each other. Apart from that 😂 https://t.co/qEQ7P6bycV
— Alan Nixon (@reluctantnicko) September 15, 2020
woudnt take much stock about Nixon or any of the websites throwing names about
Loans from premier teams as you said often include a rental fee plus wages. by the end of the loan I would imagine we could have bought a young and hungry player from the lower league such as Toffalo for a better return. the need for so many loan players is a possible pointer of the state of the club and is papering over the cracks rather than building correctly.
I agree about relying on loans too much. There no continuity from one season to the next and we’re constantly having to rebuild.
The exception are loans like Smith Rowe and Mooy who take us up a level. I don’t think we’d have stayed up last year without Smith Rowe. Even though it was a bit embarrassing to see how much a team of professional players relied on a teenager for creativity and drive in some games.
I’ve found Alan Nixon to often be close to the truth but I suppose he’s only as good as his sources. He’s been linking Town to Robbie Gotts for quite a while now.
When are we going to hear about people for position we need ! ie goal scoring centre forward, well aware modern game requires defensive duties, but sticking ball in net is paramount.
I agree. Our squad is seriously missing goals at the moment. Bringing in the right players now is so important for the future of the club.
Im interested to know. Has this source made an accurate call on previous Town signings? Who is he anyway?
He’s a journalist for The Sun (not my favourite paper) and previously worked at The Mirror. He’s the author of a lot of transfer stories that do the rounds.
He has a mixed success rate with Town. I believe he has a source of some sort (possibly agents) and is more reliable than many other peddlers of gossip. But it’s the nature of that kind of job that in the rush to put things out there they get it wrong or deals break down.
There’s a poster on the Down At The Mac that people say is extremely reliable who has posted today that we’ve singed a very good player and are just waiting on the medical. If that’s true then we should see a new signing in the next day or two.
The top priority for Town should be getting rid of Grant, and using the money to sign a recognised goal scorer, only goals get wins and three points.
Agreed!