Who is Alex Matos and will he be a good signing for Huddersfield Town?

I was just about to publish my article about Town’s defeat to Leicester on New Year’s Day when I saw Town are on the verge of making their first January signing, so I’ve decided to write about that first and will put up the post about Monday’s game later today. Apparently we’re about to sign 19-year-old Chelsea winger, Alex Matos on loan for the rest of the season.

I wouldn’t usually write about unconfirmed transfer rumours but this one has been put out by Fabrizio Ramono on Twitter (or X if you prefer) who is usually fairly reliable. Or at least, I doubt someone who typically breaks stories of ginormous transfers would bother making up stories about a Chelsea youth player going to a struggling Championship side, so it seems likely to be true. It’s also been picked up and reported by the Telegraph, so I suppose that adds a bit of weight to the rumour too.

Anyway, this article isn’t so much about the transfer itself and more about who Alex Matos is and what Town can expect from him.

Who is Alex Matos?

Matos signed for Chelsea’s academy this summer from Norwich’s academy set up and has been a regular on Chelsea’s bench in the last few months. However, his experience in senior football is literally a few minutes as a late sub against Fulham back in October. So it does make sense from Chelsea’s point of view that they want to send him out on loan. 

Even prior to going to Chelsea, he has not played any senior football for Norwich, so is limited to youth team football, where he has played as a winger or an attacking midfielder. It seems that prior to this season he has tended to play as a winger but looking at the information about how he has played for Chelsea’s Under 21 team in the Premier League 2 league this season, he’s played eight games in central midfield. So despite it being suggested we’re signing a winger, it may be that Chelsea want us to play him in central midfield. Loaning clubs can be quite demanding in terms of how their players are used, as they have the player’s development in mind and hold all the cards when negotiating deals. It would also make sense from Town’s point of view, as we currently tend to play 3-5-2 most games, which is a system that doesn’t require natural wingers.

Looking at Alex Matos’s abilities, it’s hard to find much to go off because of his lack of senior football but there is a clip compilation on YouTube – which comes with all the usual caveats (the Adama Diakaby warning) but he looks very good. In terms of his strengths, from the highlight reel, it’s obvious he loves to get on the ball and dribble at players with it which is natural for a player that has played as a winger. However, he is also good at using his strength to get through crowded areas, has quick feet, can get a shot away, is reasonably pacey when there’s a break on and isn’t afraid to put a tackle in. From the clips in the video, he also looked far too good for the level he was playing at, like a ringer that had been brought in to a pub team and embarrasses the opposition. It’ll be interesting to see if he looks that good against Championship defences or if he needs to adapt his game to cope with the increase in difficulty.

Is this a good signing for Huddersfield Town?

Premier League loans are always a bit of a gamble but for every Tino Anjorin that doesn’t work out we’ve had a Emile Smith-Rowe that has effectively saved our season. We won’t know which category Matos fits in until we see him in a Town shirt but I think the signs look good for this bit of business. He’s not played much senior football but the fact that he’s arrived at Chelsea in the summer and immediately leapfrogged the rest of the Chelsea academy to get a regular place on the senior team’s bench suggests he’s a real talent, even if he’s only played a couple of minutes in the Premier League.

Sadly it seems almost certain there is no option to buy with this loan arrangement. The best we might hope for is that he could come back on loan next season if he does well. Though if he does really well he may push his way into the reckoning at Chelsea or at least justify a better loan at a Premier League club. 

After grumbling that Town’s board have not shown enough ambition in the transfer market, this addition to the squad at least shows a bit of intention. While it is only a loan, I expect they will have had to pay a fee even for a short-term loan and relatively significant wages too. So, this feels like a step in the right direction. Provided I’ve not cursed the deal by writing about it before it’s all officially confirmed. 

How will Alex Matos fit in at Huddersfield Town?

It’s pretty hard to work out how a player who’s hardly played a minute of senior football will be used but, as I’ve mentioned above, I think he’s coming to Huddersfield Town to play in central midfield rather than as a winger. Darren Moore has been quite rigid in playing 3-5-2 in recent months, even when the available players haven’t suited this formation, so I can’t see him changing his whole system just to suit one player.

I’d expect Matos to be the most advanced and attacking of the midfield three, to provide the link between attack and midfield. Or perhaps to play as the second striker, behind the main one, where he’d have a bit more freedom to run at the opposition back line and try to find gaps to dribble into without exposing the midfield. 

If Matos has been training with Chelsea’s first team, he should be arriving at Town at a good level of fitness and ready to step into our starting eleven. I don’t want to sound too disparaging about Huddersfield Town but if he’s holding his own with Enzo Fernandez, Raheem Sterling and Thiago Silva in training, he should just about be able to cope with Huddersfield Town and the Championship. But then again, playing men’s football at the Championship can often be a bit of a shock to fancy Dan Premier League youth players who are used to being molly coddled. So we’ll have to see.