Huddersfield Town looking at free agents to solve striker problem

All season long, the Terriers have looked short at centre-forward, placing a heavy burden on 33-year-old Fraizer Campbell, the only senior option available for most of it.

That is largely because the alternative signed in the summer, Danny Ward, has been beset by injuries, starting just three Championship matches since returning to the club. He will miss tomorrow’s trip to Luton Town with a calf problem. Coach Corberan hopes to have him back in training on Tuesday but given the setbacks he has had returning from other problems this season, most notably in his hamstring, he would be wise not to bank on it.

Even Josh Koroma, who was used as a makeshift striker when Campbell and Ward were simultaneously injured earlier in the campaign, is out until late season with a hamstring problem.

Town tried to address the problem in the transfer window, but rumoured deadline-day moves for Kayden Jackson and Josip Drmic did not amount to anything. Sorba Thomas and Danny Grant were signed early in January, but both for the long-term, having arrived from the Conference and League of Ireland respectively.

The Terriers will now look to the free agent market, although Corberan would not comment on speculation they are in talks with former Everton and Cardiff City centre-forward Oumar Niasse. The experience of Alex Vallejo, made to wait 51 days for his debut after joining as a post-October window free agent, suggests it may not be a quick fix anyway.

In the meantime it is in Corberan’s nature – and Huddersfield’s structure – to simply try to get the best out of what he has. He will look to bring on 20-year-old B team striker Phillips, who made four substitute appearances and an FA Cup start in January, continue to develop winger Mbenza to fill in there, and work on January signing Duane Holmes as a possible “false nine”.

“It’s always important to have players with the options to play in different positions,” argued Corberan, whose attack-minded brand of football has yielded 30 goals in 27 league matches. “That’s why we’re working with Holmes to play as No 10 (attacking midfielder) but at the same time working as a No 7 (right winger) and as a No 11 (left winger). Mbenza was working as a No 7 but in some training sessions we moved him to play as a No 9 (centre-forward). He played minutes there against Bournemouth when we lost Danny Ward.

“Holmes could play as a false No 9 but I cannot imagine him as a targetman. Phillips is a clear No 9 but he’s a young No 9. Campbell can play as a No 10 too.”

Whilst Corberan does that, head of football operations Leigh Bromby will scour the free agent market.

“We are analysing all the options we can find to try to continue making the team stronger,” said the Spaniard.

“We are not only looking at the summer, we are thinking about right now. Right now the only options we have are free agents.

“A free agent is going to need a little bit more time.”

Many Huddersfield fans are angry at the failure to land a senior striker, but Corberan was unsurprisingly positive about their mid-season business.

“As a coach I always want to be focused on the players I have to work with and for me one of the positive (bits of) news from the transfer window was that I kept players like (Harry) Toffolo, (Lewis) O’Brien, Campbell, Pipa and Naby Sarr. I feel proud to work with these players,” he said.

“After we let Ben Hamer leave for Swansea it was important for me to add a player as cover. After we lost (injured on-loan Ajax midfielder Carel) Eiting it was necessary to add a player in the middle who can give us creativity and that was Holmes. He’s not the same No 8/6 (player as Eiting), he’s more an 8/10 (ie a slightly more attacking central midfielder) who can play wide, but he is the player who will have to replace Eiting.

“We moved out Adama Diakhaby (who joined Amiens on deadline day) and for me Rolando Aarons was the ideal replacement because both players play in the same (left wing) position.

“After the injury of (Richard) Stearman, (Christopher) Schindler and (Rarmani) Edmonds-Green it was a necessity to sign a centre-back and we did that with (Richard) Keogh.

“We always have to be focused on what needs appear and to try to find replacements for those players.

“We also signed players who we are not looking at right now as players in the (first) team because they need a period of adaptation – Sorba Thomas and Danny Grant. Sorba is involved now in first-team training but it will take more time before he is ready for the team. The step from the competition he was playing to the Championship, where the team is right now, is a big one so he will need a period of adaptation and it’s exactly the same with Grant.”

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