Having been relegated from the Championship, Huddersfield Town will be plying their trade in the third tier of English football next term and will be looking to gain an immediate promotion.
It is expected that they’ll be a fair amount of turnover within the squad this summer as they look to rebuild prior to targeting a top finish. Next term will in fact be the club’s first in League One since the 2011-12 season, the year where they gained promotion via the play-offs, much of that being down to Jordan Rhodes’ sensational form in front of goal.
Since then, they’ve played in the second tier in ten of the last 12 seasons, the other two being in England’s top flight. That spell in the Premier League between 2017 and 2019 now seems like a distant memory and despite being one of the favourites for promotion, they’ll by no means have things all their own way.
Being in a new division also means that their transfer options change slightly, and they will find it harder to attract some top talent to Yorkshire. That being said, with one of the higher budgets in the third tier, they should be able to fend off competitors for quality signings this window and their name is already in the hat for a couple of proven Championship players.
However, they do seem to have fallen behind in the race to sign George Byers, who is out of contract at Sheffield Wednesday this summer. The midfielder is therefore available on a free and given that he is rated at around the £350,000 mark by Transfermarkt, he could be a good pickup.
It had previously been revealed by The Star that the Terriers, as well as a number of other League One clubs including the likes of Blackpool and Birmingham City had expressed an interest in the midfielder.
The Tangerines could be perceived as the club who are now the favourites to gain his services, with sporting director David Downes revealing at a recent fan forum, recorded by The Gazette, that the club had made contact with Byers.
“It’s difficult to speak about individual players,” Downes said after being asked about summer recruitment.
“I’ve signed George Byers twice- once for Sheffield Wednesday and once here, so naturally I know his agent very well so we are in discussions.
“He will have a lot of options, he’s a good player. He’s a free transfer so he’s probably easier to speak about.”
Having spent the second half of the season on loan at Bloomfield Road, a return would make a lot of sense for Byers, and he was everpresent in the starting lineup after joining. With over 150 appearances between the Championship and League One to his name, he is more than proven at the level and at 28, is fully in his prime.
Although it seems as if Blackpool are the ones who are leading the race, that’s not to say that Huddersfield are out of it, far from it. They may however now be reassessing their options and new manager Michael Duff may already have a couple of other names in mind.
Writer’s View
After making 17 starts in the first half of the Championship season it potentially came as a surprise that Byers was loaned at the start of 2024 but he never really seemed to be in Danny Rohl’s plans. He still retains plenty of potential despite falling out of favour, and would be a good pick up for an ambitious League One side.
Huddersfield match that criteria but may now be looking elsewhere, especially as they were originally linked prior to Duff’s appointment. With a proven record in the third tier, his appointment seems to be a smart one, and if recruiting well this summer, then the Terriers may make an immediate return to the Championship.
