"It’s a big step up" - Exclusive: Sky Sports pundit backs Huddersfield Town over Lincoln City transfer pursuit | OneFootball

Lincoln centre-back O'Connor has been linked with a move to the Terriers by FLW

Ex-Premier League footballer and current Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie has backed Huddersfield Town to sign Lincoln City centre-back Paudie O'Connor in the summer transfer window, after Football League World revealed the Terriers' interest in snapping up the 27-year-old earlier this week.

Huddersfield underachieved on their return to League One this season following relegation from the Championship, finishing 10th in the third-tier under interim boss Jon Worthington after Michael Duff was sacked in early March.

They were well in the play-off picture for the majority of the campaign, but fell away towards the end, and now their full focus will undoubtedly be on appointing a new boss to try and take them back to the second-tier next term.

Away from that search, though, the club have moved to make significant adjustments to their squad ahead of the summer window, with 10 first-team players set to be released at the end of their respective contracts in June, including club legend Jonathan Hogg and experienced centre-backs Tom Lees and Matty Pearson.

Lee Hendrie urges Huddersfield to make Paudie O'Connor approach alongside experienced signings

With Lees and Pearson both due to depart the John Smith's Stadium at the end of next month, numerous new centre-back signings are set to be on Town's transfer agenda this summer, regardless of who comes in to lead the team.

One of those looks to be Lincoln club-captain O'Connor, after sources close to Football League World revealed this week that he is wanted by both Huddersfield and Yorkshire rivals Barnsley, with his Imps contract set to expire this summer and no new deal signed as yet.

O'Connor was a standout at the heart of Michael Skubala's side throughout the 2024/25 campaign, with three goals and four assists in 39 league appearances as they finished just one place and three points below the Terriers in the third-tier.

He is clearly a wanted man, with his time at Sincil Bank likely to come to an end soon, and ex-professional player and current EFL pundit Lee Hendrie believes that Huddersfield should look to sign the Irishman on a free transfer in the coming months, but as long as they also bring in another centre-back with experience and nous akin to that of the outgoing Lees and Pearson.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Hendrie said: “Huddersfield are obviously losing a hell of a lot of players. They need a complete rebuild, and the likes of Tom Lees and Matty Pearson, who have been big players for them over the seasons and are experienced, have been released.

“They need to look to bring in players that are going to replenish them. Paudie O’Connor, obviously a centre-back, I think it’s a big step-up, I really do.

“I’m not sure what way Huddersfield are going to go next season. With not being promoted this season, you’d think they’d be one of the sides that have to be up there and have to invest to bring in quality.

“The question is, can (O’Connor) step in and fill the boots of those experienced players? I’m sure that he would relish it, and he obviously knows the league as well.

“I do feel that you have to have the right blend, and O’Connor has obviously had a good season, and that is why they are looking down the route of bringing him in.

“He has had experience of playing down the leagues, at Bradford and obviously at Lincoln, so, listen, I think League One is a tough league, and with him being younger, but having experience, I’m sure he would fit the bill.

“I’m sure he would need more experience alongside him, though, unless they are going to go down the younger route. They definitely need replacements in that centre-back role, and it wouldn’t surprise me if (this) happens.”

Huddersfield Town may be hard pushed to secure Paudie O'Connor's signature amid expected Lincoln City exit

Huddersfield's struggles in the season just gone were mainly put down to a lack of goal-scoring threat, which led them to sign both Dion Charles and Joe Taylor in the January window to try and seal a place in the top-six.

That strategy clearly did not work, as they eventually finished mid-table and scored the least goals of any team to finish in the top-half of League One, but it does mean that their squad is now pretty well-stacked with strikers going forward into next season.

With that in mind, they are mainly going to be focusing on bolstering their defensive ranks this summer, as Radinio Balker is the only centre-back that is in-contract and set to be at the club for next season, as it stands.

Signing O'Connor would make sense, then, given his quality at third-tier level and the way he has led by example for Lincoln over the last few seasons, but they are not going to be alone in their desire to recruit him in the months to come, as shown by previous links and the fact that Barnsley are also after him right now.

The 27-year-old was claimed to be a target for Championship sides Blackburn Rovers, Preston North End, and Oxford United by Football Insider last September, with potential moves being plotted ahead of the January window.

Nothing materialised in terms of a move away from the Imps in the winter, and they were claimed to have offered him a new long-term deal just after the turn of the year in order to fend off that second-tier interest, but O'Connor is still yet to sign on at Sincil Bank, and the season has now finished with nothing penned and an exit seemingly inevitable.

Huddersfield would no doubt love to snap the Irishman up sooner rather than later as they look to build a new-look squad capable of taking them back to the Championship next season, but they do need to act fast to get him in the building before a higher-placed EFL team makes him their own.