"Superb on loan" - Huddersfield Town record signing had "massively wasted potential" | OneFootball

The defender had a superb loan spell at the Terriers but failed after he signed permanently.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Huddersfield Town's Premier League run from 2017-2019 gave supporters some of their best days supporting the club, however, it also meant a lot of money was spent.

Before their promotion, the Terriers were a club that was known for their shrewd spending, bringing in players that fit their system perfectly.

David Wagner mastered this during his first season at the John Smith's Stadium, taking Huddersfield to the Premier League through the play-offs, meaning that the club would play in the top flight for the first time since 1972.

Despite surviving in their maiden campaign, their second and final year in the division was one to forget, with their record signing, Terence Kongolo, failing to live up to the standards that he had set during his five months on loan in 2017/18.

Kongolo's only full year at Huddersfield was a disaster

The former Netherlands international joined Huddersfield in January 2018 on loan for the rest of the season from AS Monaco, and was excellent.

Despite a tough start to life in Yorkshire, he quickly adapted and was a key player for Wagner as the season came to a close.

Able to play at both left-back and centre-back, his versatility was critical to the team, and was instrumental in the Terriers' 1-1 draw against champions-elect Manchester City.

Kongolo was signed permanently for a reported £17.5 million, a club record. However, he struggled to re-capture the same form that he had shown while on loan, and could do nothing to stop his team from losing eight of their final ten games, as they were eventually relegated with just 16 points.

FLW's Huddersfield Fan Pundit, Graeme Rayner, believes that Kongolo is the club's biggest waste of money to this day.

He said: "Kongolo did not prove any value for money. He was superb on loan, absolutely superb, and then when we signed him permanently, he was a shadow of his former self. I think we recouped about a quarter of what we paid for him, if not less.

"He was probably the biggest disappointment in terms of a signing not realising their potential. During his loan spell, he was phenomenally good. I remember him absolutely clattering a Manchester United player, he poleaxed them.

Graeme continued: "There were tackles flying in against Man City players all over the place when we played them, and he was quite often our last line of defence.

"He was fierce winning the ball, he was good on it, he was athletic, just superb. When we announced we were signing him permanently, I was ecstatic, but he never came close to living up to expectations.

"He then went to Fulham and I believe their fans will say that he basically stole a wage from them. I don't even know where he is now. So yeah, massively wasted potential."

Kongolo's move to Fulham was not any better

After relegation, Huddersfield managed to keep hold of some of their Premier League stars, but few would have been happy to see Kongolo stay at the club.

The after-effects of relegation hit hard, and the Terriers failed to pick up a win in their first nine Championship games.

Their record signing struggled with injury throughout the latter half of 2019, and he moved to Fulham on loan in January 2020 before completing a permanent move at the start of the next season.

The deal was sanctioned for just £4 million plus add-ons, but once again he failed to perform when the transfer was made a permanent one, and the defender made just three more appearances in the next two years.

Kongolo now plays his football in Austria with Rapid Vienna at the age of 30.