Huddersfield Town’s recruitment in the last 12 months can’t really be knocked.
Leigh Bromby, Carlos Corberan and the powers that be at the John Smith’s Stadium didn’t spend a vast amount, but free agents and loans helped get them within 90 minutes of the Premier League in 2021/22.
Lee Nicholls, Matty Pearson and Tom Lees were absolute bargains, whilst the loan capture of Levi Colwill from Chelsea will go down as one of the best pieces of business the club has done in recent years.
The aim this summer will be to repeat that trick, with the pick up of Will Boyle on a free transfer hopefully a deal that has similar success to Pearson and Lees at centre-back.
Despite Huddersfield’s recruitment team having credit in the bank after the last 12 months, there have been a fair few flops over recent seasons.
In this article, we explore EIGHT underwhelming signings and where they are now:
Niasse was signed by Huddersfield in March 2021 when Corberan’s side were struggling in the Championship.
After a period of training, the striker was handed a short-term contract, yet an injury in training robbed Corberan of his services and Niasse never made an appearance for Huddersfield.
Last season, he linked up with Burton Albion in League One and scored three goals in 12 appearances.
Pritchard was seen as a really exciting signing at Huddersfield when he initially arrived at the John Smith’s Stadium.
However, the playmaker was part of the squad that were relegated into the Championship and then flirted with dropping into League One in back-to-back seasons.
Since leaving Huddersfield, Pritchard has joined Sunderland and rediscovered his best in League One. He put in a Man of the Match performance at Wembley in the play-off final last month, helping Alex Neil’s side win promotion back into the Championship.
During Huddersfield’s two-year stay in the Premier League, Sabiri passed through the club and had a limited impact, making him one of the club’s most underwhelming signings.
Since leaving the John Smith’s Stadium, Sabiri has had three different clubs: SC Paderborn, Ascoli and Sampdoria (loan).
The midfielder made 14 appearances in Serie A last season for Sampdoria, scoring three goals and registering a couple of assists.
Odubeko arrived at Huddersfield in the summer of 2021 and was, perhaps, the only disappointment of that window’s recruitment.
The West Ham loanee was signed to cover Jordan Rhodes’ injury but only played six times in the Championship before his loan was terminated.
The youngster moved to Doncaster Rovers in the January transfer window, scoring twice in 16 appearances in League One - Doncaster, though, were relegated into League Two.
Sanogo was another signing midway through the 2020/21 campaign, as Huddersfield’s season started to spiral out of control.
In nine appearances, the striker failed to score a goal and missed a crucial penalty in a goalless draw with Cardiff City in March 2021.
The 29-year-old is currently without a club and looking for his eighth club of his career so far.
Puncheon was an underwhelming signing at the John Smith’s Stadium, making only six appearances for the club during the 2018/19 campaign.
The midfielder is currently plying his trade with Pafos and has been a regular there over the course of the last three seasons.
Last year, the 36-year-old made 23 appearances in the Cypriot First Division and scored one goal, as well as picking up 10 yellow cards.
Diakhaby was part of Huddersfield’s more recruitment in the Premier League and beyond, proving to be a really expensive flop at the John Smith’s Stadium.
He made 16 appearances during the 2020/21 campaign before moving on to Amiens.
The winger has made 24 appearances in Ligue 2, which have brought a poor return of three goal involvements.
Aarons is actually still on the books at Huddersfield and recently made his debut for Jamaica after recovering from injury towards the end of 2021/22.
It took a lot for Huddersfield to get Aarons to the John Smith’s Stadium in January 2021 and, as of yet, he’s failed to hit the heights he will have wanted to, making only five starts in the Championship.
At the moment, he’s been underwhelming, but there’s time to turn things around and he’s embarking on a big pre-season in 2022.