Huddersfield Town player tipped for exit - he "will go in January" | OneFootball

Huddersfield Town keeper Jacob Chapman has been tipped to leave the club in the January transfer window.

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 have endured a difficult start to life under Lee Grant, with the promotion favourites sitting 10th in the League One table.

Whilst the gap to the play-off places is only three points, there’s no denying more was expected from the Terriers, and they will hope to kick-on over the coming weeks and months.

As is always the case in any promotion push, the January window will be crucial, and Grant will no doubt have his eye on a few additions he wants to make to freshen up the group and to improve the XI.

Huddersfield Town’s January transfer plans as Jacob Chapman tipped to move on

However, the reality is that he is already working with a stacked squad, which is why so many fancied Huddersfield to go up before a ball was kicked.

They brought in plenty of experienced players who have proven themselves in League One before, so it’s not like major surgery will be required in the New Year.

Instead, Grant could look to balance the squad, which means a few outgoings are on the cards.

Yet, when quizzed by FLW on which one player he expects to leave in January, Huddersfield fan pundit Graeme explained that previous outcasts like Dion Charles and Bojan Radulovic have forced their way back into Grant’s thinking, so he believes only keeper Jacob Chapman is certain to move on.

“I don’t think any of the players who are in and around the first-team are likely to go anywhere. So, I think it will be someone who is not in that picture.

“I would have said either Dion Charles or Bojan Radulovic until the events of last week, as I think they’ve both played themselves right into contention for the first-team regularly.

“Unless it’s someone who is breaking through from the U21s, such as Dan Vost or Jay Sway, I would say the most likely would be Jacob Chapman, who is our third-choice goalkeeper.

“He’s not a bad goalkeeper at all, but he needs football, and with Lee Nicholls and Owen Goodman, who we have on loan from Crystal Palace, being what Lee Grant refers to as ‘two number ones’, it’s clear he is not going to get any game time.

“Even when we’ve played in the cups, it has been whichever of the two number ones hasn’t been playing that would get game time. So, I would say Chapman needs a loan, but it might be that his future lies elsewhere. I hope it doesn’t, as I like him, but Chapman will go in January.”

Jacob Chapman would benefit from Huddersfield Town exit

It’s hard to argue with this suggestion, as Chapman is not anywhere near playing right now, and he is at a stage in his career and his development where he needs to get minutes on the pitch.

He did feature often in the previous campaign, but Nicholls and Goodman are two very capable keepers at this level, and it’s easy to see why Grant is picking them ahead of the Aussie.

Realistically, that situation isn’t going to change, so you would expect Chapman to be pushing to depart, whether it’s on loan or on a permanent basis, and he would be no major loss to Huddersfield.

An interesting January window awaits Huddersfield, and Grant and the recruitment team could have some big decisions to make, but, providing there are no serious injuries to either of the keepers ahead of Chapman in the pecking order, then letting him leave should be relatively straightforward, and it’s certainly something that will benefit the player.