Huddersfield Town's 2021 gamble paid off and could mean a profit this summer: View | OneFootball

There aren’t many players who make the jump straight from the National League to the Championship, but Sorba Thomas has proved to be capable of rising three divisions to slot into the Huddersfield Town team.

The wide man joined the Terriers from fifth-tier Boreham Wood in January 2021 after impressing for the Hertfordshire-based side in non-league, and three years on he could make his current employers a hefty sum when the season comes to a close.

With relegation to League One still looming large for Andre Breitenreiter’s side, a drop into the third tier will surely see the Wales international moving on to pastures new in the summer, but not without someone stumping up a hefty fee to get him.

Sorba Thomas career history

Thomas made the move into the Football League three years ago after impressing for Luke Garrard’s Boreham Wood side, where he came through the academy, with five goals in the 2019/20 season followed up with three more in the first half of the next campaign.

That form tempted Town into going ahead with the gamble of splashing the cash on the non-league gem, with the Wood reportedly receiving a club-record fee for their wizard on the wing.

After finding his feet in the following months after joining the club, Thomas went on to cement his place in the starting lineup at the John Smith’s Stadium; proving himself to be influential in the Terriers’ run to the playoff final in 2022, which they eventually lost to Nottingham Forest.

He may have only found the back of the net three times himself in the league campaign, but the 25-year-old’s delivery from set pieces, as well as in open play, has proved to be the most deadly of weapons for his current side, with 11 assists alone coming in that near-promotion season.

The pin-point accuracy from the wide positions puts Thomas apart from the vast majority of the league, and with a colossal defender like Michal Helik on hand to get on the end of his wicked set-piece deliveries, it is no surprise to see Town consistently find the net from the dead ball, with another nine assists to his name this season.

A look on FBRef shows that the Welshman has been leading the way in terms of crosses swung into the box for the majority of his time in the EFL, with his 342 in the current campaign 100 more than the next-nearest player, with Ipswich Town’s Leif Davis registering 239 wide deliveries.

Only Leicester City’s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall can boast a bigger expected assist figure from the current Championship season, with 10.3 compared to Thomas’s 10.2, while the Huddersfield man’s 90 key passes are once again matched by only Davis and Leeds United’s Crysencio Summerville.

For a side struggling at the bottom of the table, Thomas is putting up figures of a player destined to feature at the promotion-chasing end of the division sooner rather than later, and regardless of if the Terriers drop a division there are sure to be plenty of admiring glances heading his way throughout the summer.

Sorba Thomas contract situation

The one snag in any prospective deal for the wide man is his contract length, with Huddersfield acting quickly to extend his deal until the summer of 2026 after adapting to the second tier so quickly.

Any side looking to exploit the wide areas are sure to be keen to bring Thomas to the club, while a set piece delivery as reliable as his can earn many a priceless goal throughout the course of a season.

One thing can be assured though, if the Welsh International wants out he will definitely make sure that happens - you only have to look at his decision to leave on loan to Blackburn Rovers last January to see he wants to play as much football as possible, and at the highest level.

Of course, if Breitenreiter can’t turn things around and the Terriers drop back into League One for the first time since 2011/12 Thomas will definitely be out the door; he is one of the leading lights in the Championship, even if his current side’s position says otherwise.

But he will only be wished well by Town fans, who will always consider him to be one of the best bargain buys in the club’s history, with a hefty profit sure to be made if he moves on.