Huddersfield Town close to agreeing terms with Pritchard

David Wagner hopes personal terms can be agreed with Alex Pritchard in time for him to make his Huddersfield Town debut this weekend.
Alex Pritchard, right, pictured celebrating a goal with his Norwich team-mates is poised to join Huddersfield Town (Picture: Andrew Varley)Alex Pritchard, right, pictured celebrating a goal with his Norwich team-mates is poised to join Huddersfield Town (Picture: Andrew Varley)
Alex Pritchard, right, pictured celebrating a goal with his Norwich team-mates is poised to join Huddersfield Town (Picture: Andrew Varley)

Huddersfield have agreed an undisclosed fee with Norwich for the former Tottenham midfielder and head coach Wagner has not ruled out adding him to his squad for Saturday’s home Premier League game against West Ham.

“I can confirm that the two have found a solution,” Wagner said. “Now it is all about the personal terms and I am confident.”

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If all goes to plan, Pritchard’s arrival will follow that of defender Terence Kongolo, signed on loan from Monaco last week, and they might not be the only players added to Wagner’s squad this month.

“The window is still open and we still have our eye on the market,” Wagner said. “I am happy with what we have done so far with Kongolo and hopefully Alex. Is this the last one? Maybe. Maybe not.”

The Terriers are reported to have paid between £10-12million for offensive midfielder Pritchard, while other sources suggest the fee agreed was £14m.

“I can tell you the figures are not right and we will not speak about them. Everybody knows, and I said this last week, we will not over-pay,” Wagner said.

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When pressed on whether he expects Pritchard to be involved against West Ham, the German added: “I’ve no idea.

“I cannot answer seriously. It could be the case, it might not be the case. We have to work on the personal terms.”

Saturday’s opponents sit 15th in the Premier League, two points and four places behind Huddersfield in a congested bottom-half of the table.

Three more points and a fifth home win of the season would be a big boost for the Terriers against a potential relegation rival.

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Wagner is also keen for his players to put right their defeat against the Hammers in September when they lost 2-0 at the London Stadium.

“We expected more from ourselves,” Wagner added. “We were disappointed in what we showed there.

“It should not be a surprise that Huddersfield Town lose to West Ham, but how we played there was disappointing.”

Kongolo is in contention for his first league appearance for Town after last week’s debut in the FA Cup win at Bolton.

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Fellow centre-half Michael Hefele (Achilles) and midfielder Philip Billing (ankle) are also in contention after recovering from their recent injuries.

Chris Lowe (foot) and Martin Cranie will both miss out, as will forward Collin Quaner, who is expected to recover from the knock he sustained at Bolton in time for next week’s trip to Stoke.