Huddersfield Town axe striker after failed one-year stint - "It's sensible" from the Terriers | OneFootball

Huddersfield Town recently agreed to terminate the contract of one of their players

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Huddersfield Town confirmed the departure of striker Freddie Ladapo last week, ending the experienced striker's one-year stint in West Yorkshire.

The Terriers entered the 2025/26 campaign with a new manager and a whole host of fresh talent, keen to avoid spending a third successive season out of the Championship.

Lee Grant was handed his first job as a first-team boss in professional football and added 14 fresh faces to his dressing room, including the likes of Alfie May, Ryan Ledson and Lynden Gooch.

This level of talent has naturally led to high expectations of what Huddersfield can achieve come the end of the season, with supporters at the Accu Stadium dreaming of a return to the second-tier.

There have been shoots of promise for Grant and co during the early stages of this campaign, with impressive victories over Reading, Doncaster and Leyton Orient signalling that things are going in the right direction.

However, there have had to be some squad cuttings at the club due to the mass amount of new arrivals, and one player in particular that has been out of favour has finally departed.

It was announced last week that Town and Ladapo and agreed to terminate their contract together, just over a year after he joined the club following his exit from Ipswich Town.

The forward suffered a frustrating first term with Huddersfield, starting just one league game throughout the entire season and failing to make much of an impression when given opportunities from the bench.

And with his exit being finalised past the end of the transfer window, it means that the 32-year-old cannot sign for another EFL club until January, meaning he may have to go abroad for his next venture unless he wants to wait around for a few months.

Freddie Ladapo era summarised following Huddersfield Town exit

Football League World’s Huddersfield Town fan pundit, Graeme Rayner, wasn’t frustrated at how Ladapo’s move to the Terriers turned out but believes that the club should’ve looked to move him on whilst the transfer window was still active.

“I'm surprised it took us this long to move him on,” Graeme told FLW

“I would have thought that we might have tried to do it during the window.

“We probably did try and do it during the window, but didn't have any success. Does he go down as a major disappointment? No, not really.

“When he joined, he was signed outside of the transfer window. There was an attempt to suggest that we'd been monitoring him all summer and then when he'd been released by Ipswich, we scooped him up.

“He was kind of a free hit, really. We needed bodies in that area and if he'd come good, it would have been a great success. We didn't pay a fee for him.

“I suspect he wasn't on a huge wage. So, it was a pragmatic decision to sign him, and it didn't work out. But good luck to him wherever he goes next.

“It's sensible not to have him around when he's clearly not going to be in the first team. We've got so many options in his position that are clearly going to be ahead of him.”

Lee Grant has shown ruthless streak with Freddie Ladapo exit

Many challenges are presented to coaches during their first year of management, some they won’t have prepared for in previous training roles they have enjoyed.

One of these is dealing with players on the fringes of the squad, who don’t have a place within their plans.

Grant has experience with Ladapo in the past, when he was assistant to Kieran McKenna at Ipswich Town, whilst the striker was operating out of Portman Road.

This means that Huddersfield’s boss knew what Ladapo was like around the training ground and ultimately if he wanted the operator in his team.

Clearly, Grant has decided that there is no room for the 32-year-old within his ranks and has made the ruthless decision to render him unemployed as a result. Being able to make critical decisions so quickly is a great trait to have and will serve Huddersfield’s manager well throughout his career.