Huddersfield Town start suggests West Brom may be left to wonder "what if?": View | OneFootball

One West Ham man is already enjoying a much more successful loan spell than last season

It has been a promising start to the 2024/25 League One season for Huddersfield Town.

Following their relegation from the Championship at the end of last season, the Terriers will be looking to bounce back in the third-tier this time round.

So far things have started well for them under new manager Michael Duff, with three wins from three putting them second in the early standings.

They also comfortably dispatched League Two side Morecambe in the first round of the Carabao Cup earlier this month.

It has though, been a relatively quiet summer transfer window for Huddersfield so far, with just five new first-team signings, although one of those who is already catching the eye is Callum Marshall.

West Ham loanee Callum Marshall impressing in League One for Huddersfield Town

While most of those signed by the Terriers this summer have joined permanently, Marshall is currently on loan at the club.

The Northern Ireland international striker has moved to Yorkshire on a temporary basis until the end of the season, from Premier League side West Ham.

After completing that move, the 19-year-old was handed his debut in that cup win over Morecambe, where he made an immediate impact with a well-taken goal and eye-catching assist in a 3-0 win.

He then followed that up with an outing from the bench against Stevenage, before being handed his first league start for the club against Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.

That would prove to be another successful outing for Marshall, who scored the only goal of the game with a clinical finish to maintain the Terriers' perfect start to the campaign.

As a result, Huddersfield will be delighted with the start the striker has made to life with the club, although one side who may have rather different feelings about that, are West Brom.

Huddersfield have already got more from Callum Marshall than West Brom did

This is of course, not the first spell on loan within the EFL that Marshall has had during his career.

Back in the January transfer window, the forward had completed a temporary move to West Brom in the Championship after his scintilating form for West Ham's under-21's attracted interest.

That though, did not go to plan in any way, with the Northern Irishman badly struggling for opportunities in Carlos Corberan's side.

In total, Marshall managed just three substitute appearances for the Baggies, which saw him struggle to get the chance to show what he can do for the club.

As a result, despite him having been loaned to The Hawthorns until the end of the campaign, he had returned to West Ham by April, so he could get game time for their under-21's instead.

While West Brom at that point had the option to bring him back to play for them if they wanted, that is not something they took up, ensuring the deal did not work out at all.

By contrast, he has already played almost three times as many minutes at Huddersfield, as he did during the whole of his time with the Baggies.

Given that seems to be paying off, with Marshall making such an impact in front of goal, there may be some at West Brom wondering what might have been if he had got more opportunities there.

Indeed, with Daryl Dike and Josh Maja both absent through injury at the time, Marshall could have provided another option at centre-forward to help their end to the campaign.

With the Baggies having been battling for a play-off spot and promotion at that point, turning to the West Ham loanee more could have made a difference at times in certain matches.

That in turn may have given them more confidence and momentum, ahead of their play-off semi final defeat to Southampton that ended their hopes of promotion.

Admittedly, some may point out that Marshall is playing at a lower level with Huddersfield than he was with West Brom.

Even so, goalposts do not move in football, and if carries on in this form, there will no doubt be plenty of Championship clubs keen on him in the not too distant future.