Healey's £2m transfer - Watford are laughing, Huddersfield Town must still be stinging | OneFootball

Huddersfield Town's signing of English forward Rhys Healey from Watford for £2m has massively backfired

Having brought in the EFL legend that is Neil Warnock as the man to keep the club up during the 2022/23 season, Huddersfield Town were aiming to avoid another relegation battle once again the following campaign.

Warnock did not last long into the following season and was swiftly replaced by former West Brom boss Darren Moore in September, tasked with steadying the waters at the ACCU Stadium after a poor start to the year.

Moore, ahead of the January window, sought to revitalise his squad and made several additions to the Terriers roster, including Bojan Radulovic from Finnish side HJK Helsinki, Radinio Balker from Dutch side Groningen, and Rhys Healey from Championship rivals Watford.

Huddersfield reportedly paid around £2 million for Healey, with the hopes that he, alongside Radulovic, could come in and score the goals to keep the Terriers up. Unfortunately for them, that would not be the case.

Huddersfield Town's £2 million deal with Watford for Rhys Healey massively backfired

Upon Healey's arrival, expectations for the then 29-year-old were high, given he had managed 36 goals in 68 league appearances for Toulouse just a couple of seasons ago.

The Englishman first got his break with Welsh side Connah's Quay Nomads before a move to Cardiff City in 2013, where he would spend much of the next six years out on loan with various clubs across the EFL. He'd shine with MK Dons in League Two and then League One, earning a move to France with Toulouse before signing for Watford on a free transfer in the summer of 2023.

Healey had scored just two goals and grabbed one assist in 11 appearances during the first half of the season for the Hornets, but that didn't stop Huddersfield from spending £2 million to bring him to West Yorkshire.

Moore, the man who signed Healey that January, would be sacked before the end of the month and replaced by German boss Andre Breitenreiter, where his game time would take a hit. The Englishman would score three times in 11 appearances as the Terriers were relegated to League One, and since then, things have not improved.

Last season, Healey played less than 300 minutes of league football for Huddersfield, scoring once, and this season, a loan switch to Barrow in League Two yielded no goals in 16 minutes of football before returning to his parent club in January.

Now, at 31, Healey has barely kicked a ball in 18 months and does not appear to be a part of Liam Manning's plans at the ACCU Stadium, with the likes of Dion Charles, Alife May, Bobby Wales, and the aforementioned Radulovic ahead of him in the pecking order.

Out of contract at the end of the season, unless a huge comeback were to happen, Healey will become a free agent upon the expiry of his deal, and with just 22 total appearances in two-and-a-half years, Watford certainly pulled the wool over the Terriers eyes in this deal.

Watford signed Healey off the back of just two goals in four appearances for Toulouse in Ligue 1, with the Englishman having suffered a cruciate ligament tear, which kept him out of action for the entirety of the campaign.

He would play less than 200 minutes of league football for the Hornets after joining on a free before Huddersfield offered £2 million to sign him, which naturally, they accepted.

At the time, it seemed like a great piece of business by Watford, and so it has proven to be with the test of time. The Hornets will certainly have no regrets over the sale, who were able to make a quick windfall from Healey.