Carel Eiting from KRC Genk to Huddersfield Town: Is it a good move? Will he start? What does he offer? | OneFootball

Huddersfield Town are reunited with Carel Eiting, the popular Dutch midfielder who impressed on loan at the John Smith’s Stadium last season.

A busy transfer Deadline Day saw Huddersfield add Jamal Blackman and Tino Anjorin to Carlos Corberan’s squad, before announcing Eiting’s return following his release from Genk.

Eiting, 23, has been playing for the Belgian giants regularly this season, featuring domestically, as well as in European competitions.

His signing has been well received by the supporters, which has led to us breaking down a couple of key questions surrounding the deal.

Is it a good move?

Absolutely.

The reaction of the fans tells you they feel Eiting is a good signing, whilst anyone that watched him closely last season will agree.

Eiting was a big part in helping Huddersfield into the top-half of the table at the end of 2020, with their dip in form at the start of 2021 coinciding with the midfielder’s serious knee injury.

A career that’s already taken him to Ajax and Genk – two well respected teams in Europe – tells you about the natural ability Eiting has, whilst his loan in the Championship showed he can handle the English game.

On a free transfer and only on a deal until the end of the season, it shrinks a lot risk when it comes to the deal and made it something of a no-brainer for Huddersfield to oversee.

If Eiting can replicate anything close to his three goals and three assists from 23 games last season, Huddersfield will have a great chance of maintaining their push for the play-offs.

There’s a chance that Eiting could be thrust into the starting line-up tonight against Derby County, with Corberan not ruling that out.

However, your gut-feeling tells you that the Spaniard will ease his new midfielder back into the fold from the bench.

In time, though, you’ve got to imagine that Eiting’s return will bring starts and potentially a change in system.

Huddersfield have been 3-4-3 for a lot of the campaign so far, but last year when Eiting was fit, it was 4-3-3, with Eiting, Lewis O’Brien and Jonathan Hogg in the midfield.

Pipa’s return from injury at right-back has heightened the feeling that Town will revert to a 4-3-3 system, which should ignite some more attacking football.

In that system, Eiting could rotate with Danel Sinani, who has been a regular feature this season.

What does he offer?

Eiting plays the ‘Ajax way’ in terms of the way he looks after possession, and is clever with his movement to free himself of markers to find space.

He complements the defensive quality of Hogg, as well as the box-to-box dynamics that O’Brien brings to the midfield.

Huddersfield were a lot quicker in transitions with Eiting in the side last season, with the Dutchman having the ability to release the ball quickly to get Town on the counterattack.

Corberan also feels that Eiting will contribute to the defensive side of the game, too, which will be an added bonus during the second-half of the season.

The signing also offers supporters with a lift. There’s more and more belief brewing that Huddersfield can prove everyone wrong and secure play-off football in 2022.

Quiz: Did any of these 25 ex-Huddersfield Town players ever get a red card during their time at the club?

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Trevoh Chalobah

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