It's hard to believe Man City handed Huddersfield Town such a big promotion boost: View | OneFootball

Aaron Mooy signed for Huddersfield Town on loan from Manchester City and helped them win promotion

Back in the summer of 2016, Huddersfield Town were preparing for another season in the Championship, after finishing 19th the previous season, yet another underwhelming finish.

The expectations were that it would be more of the same at the John Smith's Stadium, but as we all know now, the Terriers pulled off a surprise promotion to the Premier League after winning the play-off final against Reading.

One man in particular was instrumental in the Terriers' promotion, and that was loanee Aaron Mooy, who joined on a season-long loan from Manchester City in July 2016.

It's fair to say that midfielder Mooy would have been an unknown quantity for Huddersfield Town fans after only joining Pep Guardiola's City side the week before his move to Yorkshire, but it didn't take long for the Terriers fanbase to realise just how talented the Australian was.

Man City handed Huddersfield Town a huge promotion boost in Aaron Mooy

After an impressive two-year spell in the Australian A-League with Melbourne City, who are Manchester City's sister team, the side from the Etihad Stadium decided to sign Mooy on a three-year deal in what was Guardiola's first summer in charge.

It was clear that Mooy wasn't going to feature regularly for a Premier League side competing for the title, so they loaned him out to Huddersfield in the Championship to enable him to get some experience of English football.

The midfielder came straight into Wagner's starting XI, and remained there for the entire season as he played 51 games in all competitions for the Terriers, and the addition of his quality helped them mount a surprise play-off push.

Mooy's presence helped Huddersfield finish 5th, despite actually ending the season with a negative goal difference, but they were solid and hard to beat, and that gave them a platform to work from.

As we all know, the Terriers would win the play-offs, despite scoring just one goal in the three games, reaching the Premier League for the first time in their history.

With the Australian playing such a pivotal role during the 2016/17 campaign, Huddersfield forked out a club record fee of £8million to sign him permanently, meaning he left Manchester City without making an appearance.

It's fair to say that Huddersfield were unfaniced ahead of the 17/18 Premier League campaign, but just as they'd done in the Championship the year before, they proved the doubters wrong to stay in the league, and Mooy played an important role as he played 36 league games, registering four goals and three assists from midfield.

However, Mooy was unable to help the Terriers avoid relegation the following season, and despite the Australian scoring three times and registering one assist in 30 league games, his side were relegated to the Championship, finishing rock bottom of the league.

It was clear that Mooy was a Premier League-standard player, and he left the Terriers to join Graham Potter's Brighton side on loan in the summer of 2019, before making it permanent in January 2020.

In total, Mooy made 120 appearances for Huddersfield, scoring 11 goals and registering 15 assists, and the Terriers will always have Man City to thank for handing them a promotion boost.

Aaron Mooy's career since leaving Huddersfield Town took an unexpected twist

Mooy spent just one further season in English football with Brighton, and he played 32 games for the Seagulls, scoring twice and registering two assists.

Despite only moving to the Amex Stadium on a permanent basis in January 2020, he departed later that year when he signed a deal with Chinese outfit Shanghai Port, to the surprise of many.

After two years in the Chinese Super League, Mooy made a surprise return to British football when he signed a two-year deal with Scottish giants Celtic in the summer of 2022, thanks in no part to the Hoops being managed by fellow Australian Ange Postecoglu.

Mooy performed well north of the border, which would have come as no surprise to Huddersfield fans, and in his 42 games for Celtic he scored seven times, also registering 11 assists as they completed the treble.

Despite only being 32, Mooy announced his retirement last summer following Postecoglu's Celtic exit, citing a back injury.

Finishing his career with a treble in Scotland was an ideal way to bow out, and Mooy certainly won't be forgotten by Huddersfield Town fans in a hurry.

He played more games for the Terriers than any other club, and an unknown loan signing in the summer of 2016 went on to become a modern-day hero at the John Smith's Stadium.