Hull City must regret Huddersfield Town transfer miss - Stoke City will be laughing | OneFootball

Hull City missed out on the signing of Sorba Thomas from Huddersfield Town six months before Stoke City signed the Welshman

With less than ten games to go, Hull City look well-placed to go on and achieve one of the six play-off places, though the job is not yet done for Sergej Jakirovic's side, who cannot afford to let up just yet.

It's been an excellent campaign on Humberside for Hull, who, despite the odds, are well within contention for a place in the top six come the end of the season.

The Tigers were hit with a three-window transfer ban at the beginning of the season, which was reduced to just two, meaning they have been unable to sign players for fees for the last two windows.

This has meant they have had to rely on free transfers and loan deals, though, despite those restrictions, they have looked like one of the strongest outfits in the division this year.

The arrivals of the likes of Oli McBurnie, Joe Gelhardt, and Semi Ajayi in the summer have been integral to their success, whilst Lewis Koumas, Paddy McNair, and Yu Hirakawa joined in January to reinforce their squad.

With only a few more hurdles left, those additions have proven pivotal. However, the job may already be done, as they reached an agreement with Huddersfield Town in January 2025 for an international winger who has since thrived elsewhere.

Hull City tried to sign Sorba Thomas from Huddersfield Town in January 2025

During the summer and winter windows of the 2024/25 season, Hull splurged out on upwards of £30 million on new additions, including the likes of Mohamed Belloumi, Abu Kamara, Ryan Giles, Charlie Hughes, and Liam Millar.

Under Turkish owner Acun Ilicali, the Tigers narrowly missed out on the play-offs the previous season under Liam Rosenior, and were looking to go one step further this year.

However, those additions did not improve a squad which had just lost the likes of Liam Delap, Jaden Philogene, Fabio Carvalho, and Tyler Morton, and the Tigers very quickly found themselves in trouble.

As the January window approached, it was a chance to make some more key additions to help to get them out of this mess, with Elliot Matazo, Matt Crooks, Kyle Joseph, and John Egan all joining.

Though they had come agonisingly close to striking a deal with League One Huddersfield for the signature of Welsh international Sorba Thomas, who was spending the season on loan in the top flight of France with Nantes.

Thomas had developed a reputation for his strong ability at set pieces during his time in West Yorkshire, leading Hull to want to bring him to the north of the county.

Hull had agreed a fee for Huddersfield to allow the switch to go ahead, but Nantes had different ideas, with the French side keen to keep the then-25-year-old at the club, with the Terriers also unable to recall him as part of the agreement.

Instead, then-boss Ruben Selles turned his attentions to Aston Villa forward Louie Barry, who was lighting up League One on loan with Stockport County, and it would be fair to suggest that the decision to do so didn't work out.

Barry made just four league appearances during his time with Hull before an injury ruled him out for the remainder of the season, whilst Hull's failure to pay Villa the £1 million loan fee on time is what caused their embargo.

Whilst things have worked out well at the MKM Stadium since, the signing of Thomas could have been a game-changer for the Tigers. Though had they not been hit with a transfer embargo, they may well not have made the additions that they did and be in the position they are in now.

Time will tell whether they live to regret missing out on Thomas when they did, but what has been Hull's loss has been Stoke City's gain.

Sorba Thomas has thrived at Stoke City under Mark Robins

Thomas would spend the remainder of the 2024/25 season in France, and upon his return to Huddersfield, it was made clear that he would play no part for the Terriers this campaign.

Mark Robins and Stoke moved in quickly to make him their first arrival over the summer, and his impact has been second to none on the Potters' side.

The Welshman is on course to hit double digits in both goals and assists in his first season at the bet365 Stadium, and though Stoke's ambitions of a play-off spot look to have faded away, their push for the top six in the early stages was, by and large, down to Thomas' performances from the left flank.

Had Nantes allowed Thomas to return to Huddersfield, he would have almost certainly signed for Hull instead, as things could have looked very different for both sides this year - the Tigers do have their own creative outlets, but Thomas could've made even more goals for the likes of Oli McBurnie.