Huddersfield Town urged against Freddie Ladapo repeat to replace Michal Helik | OneFootball

Our Terriers fan pundit has told the club to bide their time for Helik's replacement, instead of rushing into a deal like they did with Ladapo

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Huddersfield Town have been urged to properly consider their available options at centre-back this month before making a transfer approach, if they wish to replace Michal Helik, after their ill-fated move to sign Freddie Ladapo to try and fix their striker issues earlier in the season.

Michael Duff's side struggled in the early parts of their return to the third-tier, but have found their feet in the last few months and now sit fourth in League One, six points off second-placed Wycombe Wanderers, with a game in hand.

The Terriers have been busy in the January window so far with two key additions in attack, as Joe Taylor has joined from Luton Town, and Dion Charles has signed from fellow third-tier side Bolton Wanderers, as they look to return to the Championship at the first time of asking.

Huddersfield have also lost a key man in defence too though, with Oxford United moving to sign Polish international centre-back Michal Helik last week after he spent just over two years at the John Smith's Stadium, with Duff now potentially seeking reinforcements at the heart of his backline in the coming weeks.

Huddersfield urged against quick fix Michal Helik replacement like Freddie Ladapo

Helik has been a real standout at the back for the Terriers over the last few years, with 100 appearances across his two-and-a-half seasons in West Yorkshire, and he was even their highest scorer as they suffered relegation last term, with nine goals in the Championship.

Losing his services midway through a promotion charge will sting for Duff, but he does still have Matty Pearson, Radinio Balker, Tom Lees and Nigel Lonwijk to pick from in central defence, while Brodie Spencer has also played in a back-three this season, so he is not particularly short on options.

As a result, it is unclear whether Huddersfield will look to sign a new centre-back in the coming weeks, but if they do, our Terriers fan pundit, Graeme Rayner, has warned the club to not rush into signing a player just because they are available and experienced at the level, similar to how they did with striker Freddie Ladapo when he was brought in, in September.

“We’ve just sold Michal Helik, so we may need, and some people think we need, cover at centre-half after selling him. That’s up for debate, because we do have options in that area," Graeme told FLW.

“If we do decide that we want to replace him, or at least have one more body in the squad who can play at centre-half, the mistake we should avoid is just going for anyone who happens to be available, like we did with Freddie Ladapo in the summer.

“We had a real need to bring in a striker, and signed Freddie Ladapo, who was available on a free. I don’t think it’s unkind to say that the move hasn’t really worked out.

“What we should be doing, given that we still have two weeks of the window left, if we are going to bring someone in, then it needs to be someone that we have properly researched, that we know will fit in the position, and actually be capable of contributing positively.”

Freddie Ladapo has had a tough time so far at Huddersfield

Ladapo has undoubtedly been a top striker in League One in years gone by, but his time so far at the John Smith's Stadium has been pretty uninspiring, so it is understandable as to why the club has been urged not to make a similar profile of signing at centre-back to replace a player of Helik's calibre.

He joined Huddersfield in September after leaving Ipswich Town by mutual consent just weeks earlier, and while Duff's striker options had been pretty underwhelming prior to their recent incomings, he has failed to make any real impact, with just one league start up to now.

Ladapo is yet to score for the Terriers in the league, and has netted just once in all competitions so far this term, with his solitary strike coming against Barnsley in the group stage of the EFL Trophy in October.

His signing certainly felt like a gamble at the time, with Huddersfield looking to add to their frontline that consisted of West Ham loanee Callum Marshall, and senior strikers struggling for form like Rhys Healey, Bojan Radulovic and Danny Ward.

The recent signings of both Taylor and Charles are likely to push Ladapo even further down the Terriers' pecking order in the months to come, and he was not even in their matchday squad against Blackpool last time out, with a possible exit on the horizon this month.

With that said, if Huddersfield are to enter the market for a centre-back in the next two weeks, they must avoid a signing similar to Ladapo, and instead wait it out until the right player becomes available for the right price to slot into Duff's backline.