Opinion: Huddersfield Town perhaps cannot afford to say no if £10 million offers come in for starlet amid Leicester, Nottingham Forest and Brighton interest | OneFootball

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Football League World

·28 November 2022

Opinion: Huddersfield Town perhaps cannot afford to say no if £10 million offers come in for starlet amid Leicester, Nottingham Forest and Brighton interest

Article image:Opinion: Huddersfield Town perhaps cannot afford to say no if £10 million offers come in for starlet amid Leicester, Nottingham Forest and Brighton interest

The January transfer window is fast approaching for EFL clubs, and whilst the mid-season market isn’t always the most competitive and busy, hierarchies will still be fearing the big guns coming in for their star players and top youngsters.

Struggling Premier League clubs especially tend to look to spend money when it comes to January, and one club who knows all about a top flight club getting their hands on their prized assets is Huddersfield Town.


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Having made it to the Championship play-off final last season against the odds, Terriers players were under the microscope and to the frustration of supporters, they saw two star players in Lewis O’Brien and Harry Toffolo depart to the team that defeated them at Wembley – Nottingham Forest – for a combined fee of £10 million.

Huddersfield hadn’t spend a single penny in transfer fees in the summer of 2021 to bolster their squad from being relegation candidates to a surprise package in the promotion race, but having put an eight-figure sum into the club following Phil Hodgkinson’s departure as chairman, Dean Hoyle cited the club’s finances as the reason for cashing in on O’Brien and Toffolo.

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Article image:Opinion: Huddersfield Town perhaps cannot afford to say no if £10 million offers come in for starlet amid Leicester, Nottingham Forest and Brighton interest

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Some of that money was indeed re-invested into the squad – Jack Rudoni, Michal Helik, Tyreece Simpson and David Kasumu all had fees attached to them but the Terriers still made a significant profit on their business over the summer, but that lack of investment is showing this season as they sit bottom of the table after 20 matches.

Hoyle is seeking a consortium to purchase the club fully as he has stepped back from day-to-day commitments, and that step back could lead to another big sale to be made in January potentially to further bolster the club’s stability.

One of the positives at the club is the youth system – several players have broke through into the senior setup and one of those is Etienne Camara, who despite playing in the midfield of a team that is propping the rest of the second tier up has been one of the rare shining lights for Mark Fotheringham.

The 19-year-old made his debut in early 2021, but he only received his first outing in the league back in August of this year and has so far played 13 times in the Championship for Huddersfield.

His size and presence in the middle of the park makes it hard to ignore Camara and he’s backed his potential up with some solid performances – Wyscout’s stats show an 83 per cent pass completion record, 70 per cent successful dribbles and 3.96 interceptions per match, so the Frenchman can do a bit of everything.

Perhaps inevitably the vultures were going to start circling, which is why Huddersfield decided to trigger the extra year in Camara’s contract last week to keep him at the club until the summer of 2024.

But there are Premier League clubs waiting in the wings to test the resolve of Huddersfield in January – Leicester City are said to be leading a battle between the Foxes, Brighton and Nottingham Forest for Camara, although no bids have been submitted just yet.

The report claims that Huddersfield have slapped a £10 million price-tag on Camara going into the transfer window – perhaps steep considering he has played just 13 league matches but his skill-set and size is there for all to see.

With the uncertainty regarding Huddersfield’s ownership, can they really afford to say no if a bid of that value lands at the table for Camara?

Yes, he has potential, but some of that money could be used by Fotheringham in January to bolster several positions, including the midfield, a centre-back and a new striker or two for the battle that will be hard-fought for the remainder of the campaign.

£10 million could secure the future of the club for a little while as well, so even though it would be frustrating to lose a talent that has been nurtured by coaches at Huddersfield, the short-term future for now has to be looked at, and it could do a whole world of good.

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