Huddersfield Town: Narcis Pelach's reveal on Norwich City star Borja Sainz must hurt | OneFootball

Former Huddersfield Town interim boss, Narcis Pelach, has revealed that he tried to sign Norwich star Borja Sainz.

Huddersfield Town have one goal in mind this season and that is to earn promotion back to the Championship.

The 2023/24 campaign was a disaster for the Terriers as they finished second-bottom in the second tier on 45 points, meaning they would play League One football for the first time in over a decade.

Michael Duff was appointed as manager ahead of this season and his side are competing at the right end of the table. Promotion will be no easy task, as the likes of Birmingham City, Wrexham and Wycombe Wanderers are all eyeing up those two automatic promotion places, while Stockport County sit 4th in the table behind that trio.

The Terriers had a slightly slow start to the season but have certainly found their feet now as they have gone nine league games unbeaten and have won their last four.

Huddersfield fans will be longing for a return to the Championship and will look back on last season with regret, regret that will only grow after Narcis Pelach's recent comments.

Perhaps things could have been different for the Terriers if they'd managed to land a star that has dominated the Championship this term.

Narcis Pelach reveals he tried to sign Borja Sainz at Huddersfield

The current Stoke City boss was previously a coach at Huddersfield for under three years and also occupied the role of interim manager on two occasions in the Championship.

In a recent interview with Pink Un, the Spaniard revealed that he wanted Norwich City star Borja Sainz at Huddersfield.

He said: "Borja is a very good football player, I know him very well, of course: Spanish and Spanish. I was responsible for his performances in Norwich because I was the coach in charge of him. There is no coach who knows more about Borja Sainz than me!"

"I wanted him in Huddersfield as well, so we tried to make a deal. But we couldn't do it in the end, and we made it in Norwich. He's a great player, a great human being, and we have a lot of love for each other."

Unfortunately for the Terriers, instead of moving to Huddersfield, Sainz signed for Norwich and is now taking the Championship by storm.

Borja Sainz's Norwich City spell so far

Sainz has been arguably the best player in the Championship this term and Huddersfield will wonder whether things could have been different for them if they'd signed him when Pelach was at the club.

The 23-year-old impressed last season in his first campaign with the Canaries but the 2024/25 campaign has seen him take his game to a whole new level.

Norwich lost a couple of really key individuals in the summer, so Sainz was forced to step up his game and it is safe to say he has done exactly that.

He has started all 19 of Norwich's Championship games so far this season, scoring a whopping 15 goals and assisting two. He already has two hat-tricks to his name this season – a mindblowing stat given he's not a natural striker

Without Sainz, Norwich could have been in a lot of trouble this season, and quite frankly, Huddersfield were crying out for a player of his quality back when they were suffering at the bottom of the Championship.

If the Terriers had signed Sainz when Pelach was a coach at the club, perhaps they would still be playing Championship football today and that will hurt after Pelach's reveal.