Huddersfield Town struck gold on player Rob Edwards had "real high hopes" for | OneFootball

It's taken them a while, but Huddersfield Town are finally reaping the benefits of Joe Taylor

It may have taken them 18 months, but Huddersfield Town are finally getting the best out of Joe Taylor.

The 23-year-old is proving exactly why the Terriers spent £3 million to bring him in from Luton Town in January 2025, with five goals in the first four games of the 2026/27 campaign.

Taylor's always had potential to play higher than the third tier, with double-digit goals in short-term loan spells at Lincoln City in 2024 and Wigan Athletic in the latter half of last season.

In a way, it's not rocket science to get the best out of him, and Martin Drury is following the formula that saw the potent frontman on the fringes of the Championship play-off final winners just three years ago.

Joe Taylor showed early promise for a promotion-chasing Luton Town side in the Championship

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Taylor was a real bright prospect when Luton prised him away from Peterborough United in 2023. He was predominantly playing for Posh's under-21s, but the Hatters saw clear potential to break into their squad in the near future.

The only slight issue was that the then-20-year-old was battling to get into a side on the cusp of a real underdog story in the second tier, battling for automatic promotion to the Premier League.

Taylor made six appearances for Rob Edwards' side in that 2022/23 campaign, one of which came in the play-off final win against Coventry City. Coming off the bench, the frontman netted what could have been the winning goal in extra time, only for VAR to rule it out for a prior handball.

Nevertheless, he made sure he netted his penalty, and Luton would prevail on spot kicks, earning their place in the Premier League, nine years on from their final campaign in the National League.

Rob Edwards had "high hopes" for Joe Taylor during encouraging loan spells in 2023/24

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Luton were in the top flight, and despite Taylor's contributions in the play-off final, there was little chance that the promising striker would end up playing much in the Premier League.

He was sent out on loan to Colchester United in League Two, and in the opening half of the 2023/24 campaign, he scored 11 times in 25 games. Evidently, he was better than the fourth tier, and Hatters boss Edwards had a decision to make.

Regardless of whether he would be relocated that January, the Luton head coach made it clear his long-term future lay at Kenilworth Road.

"We’ve got real high hopes for Joe, and it’s good that he’s had a good first half of the season. We want that to carry on in his development because long-term we see him being here with us," he said.

Ultimately, he would be recalled and loaned out once more to then-League One side Lincoln, where he was even more potent in front of goal, scoring 10 in 19 — a run which established him as one of the best strikers at the level.

Huddersfield Town nearly missed the opportunity for Joe Taylor to excel at the club

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Taylor's time in the Championship with Luton didn't go to plan. Granted, there weren't many standout performers in that Hatters squad, which suffered a second successive relegation, and the striker only played 145 minutes in the first half of the season.

In came Huddersfield in January with a £3 million bid, and his arrival seemed a walk-in for the Terriers to push on and secure promotion back to the second tier at the first time of asking.

It had the opposite effect, though. Taylor didn't hit the ground running, and the Terriers slid away from the play-off conversation without a trace. Due to that hefty price tag, a lot of the frustration from the fans was directed at his transfer.

That didn't change in his first full year at the club, either. New Huddersfield boss Lee Grant didn't favour him at all, and while there was a lot of annoyance towards the dugout for not selecting Taylor, there were still some grumbles about the perceived waste of money they had just sitting on the bench.

The 23-year-old went out on loan again in January, this time to Wigan, and once again proved why he's one of the best in the division, scoring 11 times in 21 league outings and being the driving force behind the Tics' survival in League One that year.

He was so good that many expected him to make a Championship move in the summer from Huddersfield, leaving the Terriers wondering how they managed to miss out on the excellence of their own striker.

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But the transfer window is now closed, and Taylor is still at Huddersfield. Importantly, he's finally found his shooting boots at the Accu Stadium that he had almost everywhere else.

Five goals in four league games already better his league tallies for Town in 15 and 19 games in the past two seasons, respectively, and his 16 EFL goals in 2026 are more than anyone else in the three divisions.

The Terriers have begun the campaign brilliantly under Martin Drury, scoring nine in four league games and remaining unbeaten in them. Taylor has combined brilliantly with the likes of Bojan Radulovic and Ashley Fletcher in all four.

It's still only early days, and Huddersfield fans will be quick to remind you that they won four of their first five under Lee Grant last year, but there's a feeling that this year could finally be the year when one of the most ambitious sides in the third tier finally earns that long-awaited promotion.