Huddersfield Town secured vital Arsenal deal for future England player - Terriers will wish they'd seen more | OneFootball

Emile Smith Rowe joined Huddersfield on loan in January 2020 and he played a pivotal role in helping the team survive in the Championship.

Huddersfield Town's 2019/20 campaign was one that should have been filled with promise after relegation from the Premier League. However, they struggled in the first few months of the season and an instant return to the top flight was quickly off the cards.

The Terriers started their first term back in the Championship in two years in extremely poor fashion, losing seven of their opening nine matches as they dropped into the bottom three.

They picked up just two points during this period of time, and the writing was on the wall for the West Yorkshire side, who brought in Danny Cowley to steady the ship and help guide them out of the relegation zone.

A seven-match unbeaten streak followed as Huddersfield finally started to look like their usual selves. But they were never quite able to escape the clutches of those occupying the drop zone, and by the time January came about, it was clear that reinforcements were needed to help stave off the threat of League One.

Emile Smith Rowe was excellent for the Terriers during his short time at the club

Emile Smith Rowe was brought in on loan to add a cutting edge to the Terriers' play, signing for the rest of the season from Premier League giants Arsenal.

He was highly-rated by the Gunners, and he had already made several appearances for the senior team in domestic and European competitions.

However, it was clear that he needed to spend time down the pyramid to get that valuable experience to help him progress in the coming years. Huddersfield could offer that in droves, with a fresh face needed in the middle of the park.

This was the area of the pitch where Smith Rowe mainly operated for his new club, while also playing just slightly more advanced on a few occasions.

The now 24-year-old hit the ground running, scoring in just his third game for the Terriers, while also registering an assist as Fulham ran out 3-2 winners at Craven Cottage.

Inconsistency was plaguing Huddersfield, and they were unable to ever truly build a significant gap to the bottom three, but Smith Rowe kept plugging away and he was showing all signs of being a star in midfield.

Huddersfield stayed up, but they would have wished they got to see more of Smith Rowe

Three successive defeats at the end of June and the start of July saw the Terriers' relegation fears come back stronger than ever, but they ended the campaign well and lost just twice more in their final seven games to secure their place in the Championship.

Smith Rowe himself added another goal to his collection, having also picked up two assists against Bristol City just before football paused because of the pandemic.

The consistent game time that the midfielder got helped him in the next two seasons as he became an integral part of Arsenal's first team, featuring 20 times in the 2020/21 campaign before playing 33 games the year after.

He scored 10 goals and registered two assists off the wing and in the attacking midfield role for the Gunners in 2021/22, using the knowledge that he had taken from his time with Huddersfield forward with him.

However, Terriers fans will always wish that they got to see more of the young talent that helped keep them in the Championship at such a crucial time in the club's history.