Claim made as Plymouth Argyle star close to Huddersfield Town transfer - he's a 'shadow of the player we saw' | OneFootball

FLW's Plymouth Argyle expert Luke Hodge is satisfied with the £1m fee his club will receive from Huddersfield Town for the services of Bali Mumba.

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…

Bali Mumba's Plymouth Argyle career is set to come to an end, as the Pilgrims have agreed a deal worth a reported £1m to sell the left-sided player to League One rivals Huddersfield Town.

The 24-year-old arrived at Home Park initially on loan from Norwich City in 2022, but would go on to play a huge part in Argyle's title-winning campaign, notching six goals and seven assists in 41 league outings.

Plymouth made the move permanent that summer, and since then, Mumba has been a stalwart in the side of every single one of the five different managers he's worked under during the last two-and-a-half years.

Unfortunately, the wide man's development was somewhat stunted in the Championship with the many managerial changes, and when the Pilgrims were relegated back to League One, there wasn't much interest drummed up in his service from second tier clubs.

Now after a struggling back in League One, Mumba is set to embark on a fresh chapter with Lee Grant's Huddersfield, in hope of rediscovering some of the form he showed in his early Argyle days.

Bali Mumba departure 'no big surprise' for Plymouth Argyle supporters

After Football League World exclusively broke the news of Mumba's imminent departure to Huddersfield, we consulted our resident member of the Green Army, Luke Hodge, to get his immediate thoughts on the deal.

Luke told us: "I don't think it's any big surprise to any fan at Argyle that Bali was likely to leave in this transfer window. 18 months left on his contract, and barring (Lorent) Tolaj, I think he's the most valuable player at the club — reported £1m to Huddersfield.

"Bali's been a shadow of the player we saw when he was in League One a couple of seasons ago, and that's not through him downing tools or a lack of trying, he's just lost that spark, and really struggled to find any kind of consistent form.

"If it's £1m, and we're able to reinvest it back into the team and maybe pick up a couple of players in different positions that are far more important at the moment, then I think it's a good move for the club and the player.

"Huddersfield are a rival club, kind of irrelevant. It would be great to see him go there, get a smile back on his face, and start producing the type of performances that we've all seen in the past.

"He's young enough, and I'm sure he'll succeed and do well there," Luke concluded.

£1m fee for Bali Mumba dubbed 'perfectly acceptable'

It's now known that Huddersfield will pay in the region of £1m to bring Mumba to Yorkshire, which is a similar fee that Argyle paid to sign him permanently from Norwich in the summer of 2023.

This may come as a little bit of a disappointment for some Plymouth fans, particularly if you'd have told them that when they signed him. However, Luke believes the fee is more than reasonable, given Mumba's current situation at Home Park.

When we asked Luke for his thoughts on the reported fee, he responded: "If it's £1m that's been reported on Sky Sports, I think we paid similar or maybe a little bit more for him.

"But with 18 months left on his contract, he hasn't produced the same sort of form as he did a couple of seasons ago, so I think £1m is a perfectly acceptable amount to receive from Huddersfield for him.

"As I said, reinvesting that back into the squad to hopefully strengthen a couple of positions makes sense for everybody."

All in all, it comes as a huge disappointment to see Mumba depart following his struggles in League One, but it's a deal that works out well for everyone involved.

Argyle need to reinvest in their squad, and will be able to do so with the fee they receive, whilst Mumba gets to start a fresh chapter in a system that will suit him, and Huddersfield get a versatile player with bags of potential that they could hold the key to unlocking.

The 24-year-old will always be remembered as a cult-hero at Home Park, thanks to his contributions in the title-winning year, but now seems the best time for everyone to move on amicably.