Huddersfield Town could make contract U-turn with replacement for Sorba Thomas needed: View | OneFootball

Unless there is a 15-goal swing on the final game of the season, Huddersfield Town are relegated and will be playing League One football next season.

It has been a very disappointing campaign for the Terriers, with the appointment of Andre Breitenreiter not doing much to stop the club’s slide.

The club’s relegation to England’s third tier will be confirmed this Saturday, unless there is an unbelievable turnaround, and it will be the first time they are back in the division since the 2011/12 season.

As whenever a team suffers relegation, it is likely going to mean a lot of players are moved on, and given how well he has performed this season and how well he has done in the Championship, Sorba Thomas seems likely to leave and remain in the Championship.

Sorba Thomas’ Huddersfield Town situation as relegation looms

Sorba Thomas is probably the player most Huddersfield Town fans are expecting to leave right away.

The 25-year-old has been a sensational signing from Boreham Wood, and once again in this campaign he has shown how good he can be, despite the club’s struggles.

The winger has been in fantastic form this season, woth four goals and nine assists to his name in 41 league appearances.

Thomas was sensational for Huddersfield when they reached the play-offs a few seasons ago, but after falling down the pecking order under Mark Fotheringham, he was sent out on loan to Blackburn Rovers for the second half of 2022/23.

The Wales international returned for the start of the current campaign and again showed why he probably should have been kept at the club last season.

Thomas is still contracted to the club until the summer of 2026, but it is unlikely that he will want to play for the club in League One, and it seems that Huddersfield may be prepared to cash in on their star man to raise some funds.

So, if he does depart, which seems likely, Huddersfield will need to find a replacement, and that could potentially see them change their stance on current player Connor Mahoney, who is set to leave the club at the end of the season when his contract expires.

Huddersfield Town could make a contract U-turn with Connor Mahoney if Sorba Thomas leaves

Relegation to League One means funds are probably going to be tight for Huddersfield Town, so they may not be able to go into the market and just find a ready-made replacement for someone like Sorba Thomas.

Therefore, they may need to be wise, and they could do that by looking closer to home and addressing Connor Mahoney’s contract situation.

The winger has been with the Terriers since the summer of 2022, when he joined the club on a free transfer after leaving Millwall.

Last season was a huge disappointment for the 27-year-old, as he only played nine times in the Championship, totalling just 172 minutes of football.

Then this season didn’t start much better, as he appeared in the EFL Cup but only got four minutes under his belt, and seemingly not in the plans of Neil Warnock at the time, Mahoney was shipped out on loan for the rest of the season to League Two side Gillingham.

It was maybe a surprising move, but it is one that has paid off as the winger has rediscovered his form once again.

While with the Gills, Mahoney appeared in 39 league games, 33 of which came as starts, averaging around 77 minutes on the pitch per match.

During that time, Mahoney scored seven goals, averaging one every 429 minutes of football. The 27-year-old was a constant presence near the opposition goal, as he averaged 1.6 shots per game, but his accuracy was somewhat off at times, as only 0.6 were on target.

The winger was always creating chances for Gillingham, as throughout the season he created 15 big chances, as well as averaging 1.8 key passes, and those stats helped him to collect four league assists, as per Sofascore.com.

It was a productive loan spell for Mahoney, and he now returns to Huddersfield with his contract set to expire at the end of June.

He obviously has some work to do to get back into contention with the Terriers, but given that Thomas could leave this summer, Huddersfield may be wise to give Mahoney another deal to see what kind of impact he may make in League One.

The 27-year-old has found his form again, albeit at a lower level, and that could prove very useful for Andre Breitenreiter or whoever is in charge of the Terriers next season - even more so if Thomas does leave, as Huddersfield need to replace that creative spark.