Maybe it’s a bit early to be worrying about it, but a number of Huddersfield Town’s squad are entering into their final year of their contract this season. That means next could see more churn within the squad unless the people behind the scenes at the club are able to tie down key players to new deals. Or, looking at it from another perspective, some players that haven’t done enough or that have reached the twilight of their careers will be allowed to leave so we can recruit better replacements.
There’s also the phenomena to consider that I like to call the “Simon Baldry effect” which is when a player that has previously been pretty average suddenly starts playing like a world beater when their contract is a few months away from ending to earn themselves a new deal before reverting back to mediocrity as soon as they have a fat new contract to sit back on.
Anyway, here’s a list of all Town’s players that are entering into the final year of their contracts. I’ll include those that also have the option to extend by a further year but I’ll put a star next to their name. Thanks to HTAFC Statto for their Twitter post that provided the data I’ve used for this post, they produce really useful information about Town so are great to follow if you like this kind of stuff.
Danny Ward
At the start of last season he was not well liked among fans but after the best year of his career he’ll no doubt be hoping to sign an extension at some point this season. It’s a tricky proposition though because he’s 31 this December and most likely one of our top earners so the club will be reluctant to give him a deal that commits us to paying him top whack at a time when his skills may start to diminish. But contract distractions can get inside players’ heads and take their focus away from football so that could become a problem too. I’m glad I’m not Leigh Bromby!
Tom Lees*
Lees will be 32 when his contract expires at the end of this season but the club have the option to take an additional year. Like Ward, Lees is probably earning fairly decent money compared to the younger members of the squad so it will be a matter of judging whether he’s playing well enough and if he still has the legs to play at Championship level. I did also recently here that these additional year options sometimes have triggers based on appearances, I think it might have been on Peter Crouch’s podcast, so if Lees plays a lot this season we may have to trigger his extension.
Jon Russell*
This one feels like the most urgent and obvious contract that needs renewing. Russell will still be on the contract that he signed as a Chelsea academy reject who signed for our B Team who had to prove himself before he could play for our first team. Now he’s an established first team regular and playing regularly in the Championship he should be paid accordingly and given a suitably lengthy contract. I’m not saying that because I think the club should treat him nicely but because we want to avoid the risk of other clubs being able to sign him for a cut price because his contract is running down and he’s willing to leave because he’s earning much less than his teammates.
Josh Koroma
We are now in the one-year extension of Koroma’s contract after his previous contract expired at the end of last season. Getting him signed up to a new deal would be a good idea for everyone but I suppose he could make that a lot easier for everyone by performing at a level to justify a big pay rise (which I presume is the reason we’ve not agreed a new deal). Last season was a poor year for Koroma but part of that was because Corberan didn’t play with wingers for long periods of the season. Now we’ve got a former winger in charge we might start to see the best of him.
Danny Grant*
We signed Grant from Bohemians in the same transfer window as we signed Sorba Thomas from Boreham Wood. Both went into the B Team but it was Grant that I was most excited about as he’d already played in the Europa League and had a lot of buzz about him. He’s had rotten luck with injuries and Covid since arriving. Add to that the difficulties of relocating to England and adjusting to full-time professional football and it’s not a huge surprise that we’ve not seen much of him yet but it’s a bit of a shock he’s out of contact this summer if we don’t take the one-year extension (though surely we would). I think a loan spell is likely this season to give him some experience and then a new deal could be in the offing if he proves himself.
Rolando Aarons
I always think of fax machines when I see his name! If only we’d managed to get our transfer paperwork faxed off in time we might have got him those few months earlier and his Town career could have been completely different. But as it stands we’re stuck with a player that just can’t seem to get fit. It’s hard to blame him, I think he’s just got one of those bodies that picks up niggles. It must be incredibly frustrating for him because I’m sure he wants to get on the pitch and show what he can do. There’s always that chance this season could be the one where he gets fit, stays fit and sets the footballing world alight. I’m not holding my breath though.
Jonathan Hogg
I thought a three year deal was a year too long when he signed his last contract extension but I’m actually quite pleased that we have Hogg for this season. He doesn’t quite have the same legs he used to, his dodgy hips keep him out of at least a dozen games a season and he spends a lot more time telling other people where to run rather than actually running himself these days but we still miss him when he’s not there. I don’t think it’s been confirmed yet but I expect he’ll retire at the end of the season or if not, drop down to a lower level. I can see him being really handy as a player-coach before the season ends though, particularly seeing as though there haven’t been any new coaches arriving at the club since Carlos and his number 2 left us.
Ollie Turton*
Like Russell, this is another priority contract that should be offered as recognition for a good season last year. While it’s useful to bring in good new players, making sure we don’t risk losing the good players we already have should be a priority too to keep continuity. There were a shaky couple of months at the start of last season where Turton struggled to adjust to the Championship but since then he’s been superb and he deserves an improved deal, particularly as he risk losing him as a free agent at the end of this season if we don’t tie him up to a new deal.
Ryan Schofield
I don’t think the club have officially announced why he hasn’t been seen during preseason. Presumably it’s because he’s not yet recovered from the injury he picked up in the cup game in January but it may also be that he’s training elsewhere ahead of a loan move. We just don’t know. It’s an important season for Schofield and I think a loan move would be a good idea for him as he has proven in his time at Town that he is a superb shot stopper but needs to build up his confidence away from the John Smiths’ Stadium in front of fans that don’t know who he is. With a clean slate I can imagine he could do very well and rebuild his career because he has the skills to be a great keeper but I just can’t see it happening for him at Town because of those mistakes he’s made in the past and the lack of faith the fans have will get inside his head and affect his performance.
Josh Ruffels*
After losing our first choice left back this week we are now looking to Ruffels to step up and make the position his own. If he does then he can more than likely expect a contract extension to come his way this season. It seems like he’s only just arrived but I suppose that’s the problem with signing a two-year contract, you spend the first year settling in and then the next year on your way out. But the club having the extension option at least gives us a bit of insurance and security.
Matty Daly*
On loan at the moment and I’ve just had to Google his age to check he’s still actually a youth player and not actually 26 as he seems to have been knocking around the fringes of the first team forever. He’s actually only 21, so there’s still plenty of time for him to make it as a Huddersfield Town footballer. I think he really needs to tear it up at Harrogate Town this season to prove he’s good enough for the Championship. If he’s got ten goals in League Two before Christmas then that might justify and early recall and a run in our team. If he’ struggling to get picked and only has a couple of assists and maybe a single goal in LDV Vans trophy (I know it’s not called that any more) then it’s hard to imagine him coming back and setting the Championship alight.
What about the rest of the squad?
HTAFC Statto has done a handy visualisation of the whole squad’s contract situations in the tweet below. I think we’re actually in pretty good shape. As I’ve mentioned above, I think Russell and Turton are urgent priorities as they both need new contracts to reward them for good seasons last year and to avoid the risk of losing them but otherwise there’s nothing much to panic about.