Huddersfield Town should do legwork for January deal in December | OneFootball

The Terriers need to work on a deal for Joe Taylor to be able to announce him ASAP in the new year

Huddersfield Town are in desperate need of a quality striker to help their promotion push, and work must be done on a deal for Luton Town's Joe Taylor ahead of the January window while he struggles for minutes at Kenilworth Road.

The Terriers are still in the race for automatic promotion back to the Championship as it stands ahead of a busy winter schedule, but already need to be looking ahead to the new year for fresh faces to keep up their challenge on the top two and consolidate their position in the League One top six.

Michael Duff has had his doubters in the early stages of his tenure at the John Smith's Stadium but needs more backing from the club's owners in January, particularly in attack, where his side have struggled so far this term.

Huddersfield have conceded just 15 goals in their first 15 league games, so boast the third-best defensive record in the third-tier right now, but up-front has been a different story, as their relatively impressive pool of striking options have all struggled to find the back of the net.

The likes of Freddie Ladapo and Danny Ward are yet to get off the mark in league games, while Josh Koroma, who is a winger by trade, has been playing out of position in a front two as a result of their lack of firepower.

Duff needs a new striker in the new year, and who better than Luton's Joe Taylor, after the Terriers were previously linked with him in the summer but failed to seal a deal with the Hatters.

Taylor is not getting the game-time he wants in the Championship under Rob Edwards, and so Huddersfield should strike while the iron is hot and do the legwork for a deal now, in preparation for it to be announced and him to be ready to play in early January.

Joe Taylor is a top striker at League One level

Taylor would be the perfect addition to improve the Terriers' lacklustre threat in front of goal, and is best known among football fans after he helped Luton to promotion to the Premier League in 2023 by scoring his penalty in the play-off final, and then shone on loan at both Colchester United and Lincoln City last season.

The 21-year-old netted 11 goals in 25 League Two games with the U's in the first half of the campaign, then was recalled to move to Sincil Bank and applied his fine form to the third-tier, as he scored 10 times in 19 appearances and picked up the League One Player of the Month and the EFL Young Player of the Month for March 2024 as Lincoln just missed out on a play-off spot at the end of the season.

The 22-year-old is clearly a great talent and a prolific scorer at League One level, so it seems a no-brainer for Huddersfield to sign him, particularly given his lack of opportunities in the Championship so far this season.

While Luton have not enjoyed the return to the second tier that they would have hoped for, Taylor has still struggled for minutes ahead of the likes of Jacob Brown, Carlton Morris, Elijah Adebayo, and Cauley Woodrow.

He has not started a single game for the Hatters this season and has only come off the bench seven times in the Championship, with only 83 minutes on the pitch in that time.

It is clear that he will be looking for a quick exit in the new year, and Huddersfield need to be at the front of the queue for his signature, similar to how they chased him until late on in the summer window.

Huddersfield must reignite their interest in Taylor ahead of January

It was no shock to see Taylor linked with a host of League One clubs in the last transfer window ahead of this season, and transfer journalist Alan Nixon first reported of Huddersfield's interest in him in July, as they were named in the chasing pack for his signature.

The Terriers moved to bolster their attacking depth in August as 19-year-old forward Callum Marshall joined on loan from West Ham United, but were seemingly not done with Taylor as Nixon then revealed that they were close to sealing a deal but were being made to wait by Luton as they looked to bring in a replacement.

The window went on, and it was just days before the deadline when Nixon reported that Taylor’s move to the John Smith's Stadium was in limbo, despite him meeting with the Terriers to discuss a loan with a view to a full-time move, as Luton had called him back after the discussions as they waited to make a decision.

Rob Edwards seemingly never got the striker he wanted at the end of the window, and so Taylor's Huddersfield move never materialised, but new hope for a January switch was revealed by Nixon in September, as he claimed that the Terriers are confident of sealing a £2m deal for Taylor at the second attempt, and hope to agree a deal for January.

There is no time like the present, so with Taylor failing to appear in any of Luton's last five Championship games, and Huddersfield in clear need of a striker in January, they must approach the Hatters before the January window and thrash out a deal in the coming weeks so he can join early in the new year and get going at the John Smith's Stadium as soon as possible.