David Wagner must always regret £9m Huddersfield Town transfer - it’s not Ramadan Sobhi | OneFootball

Huddersfield Town will always look back on this transfer with a tinge of regret.

Huddersfield Town were riding high in the summer of 2018, after two years of tremendous success.

Fighting in the premier division of English football was nothing new for the Terriers, as they were the first club to win the title three times consecutively from 1923/24 to 1925/26.

However, in the modern era of football they no longer enjoyed such a competitive status within the English game, and had been outside of the top-flight for 45 years in 2017.

This meant that when they achieved promotion to the Premier League in that year, it came as a huge shock to the footballing world.

Although it was brilliant to see David Wagner’s side defy the odds and make it up to the highest stage of domestic football, few gave them any chance of retaining that status for another season.

Their finances couldn’t compete with a large majority of the other Premier League teams and outscoring three separate sides would be a huge ask. Despite this, the Terriers defied the odds once more and managed to finish 16th, earning themselves another year in the top flight.

Keen not to fall victim to the dreaded second-season syndrome, Town got to work in the transfer market by bolstering their squad with some new recruits.

Huddersfield Town and David Wagner will regret major Adama Diakhaby transfer blunder – it cost them £9m

Huddersfield made a number of additions that didn't end up working out in the summer of 2018, such as the signing of Ramadan Sobhi from Stoke City.

Joining for £5.7m, the Egyptian failed to show any sort of potential for Wagner’s side and played just four matches before joining Al-Alhy on loan in the following January.

Sobhi would also spend the season after on a temporary move with Al-Alhy, before permanently joining Pyramids FC in 2020 for a fraction of the price Huddersfield paid for him. However, the Terriers arguably made an even worse transfer blunder in the summer of 2018.

Deciding that they needed to add to further their attacking ranks in the summer, Town decided to explore the European market and bring some talent in from overseas.

Eventually, Adama Diakhaby was landed upon to become one of the Terriers’ marquee signings for the summer of 2018 and provide them with the edge needed to remain in the Premier League once more.

Then 22 years of age, Diakhaby commanded a transfer fee of £9m from Monaco, having featured almost 50 times in Ligue 1 whilst also having made his debut for the France Under-21s side.

On paper, this looked like a real coup for the Terriers. They had an emerging talent that was one of French football’s best apparent prospects, a country that had just won the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

However, when the time came for Diakhaby to perform on the pitch, major doubts began to creep in surrounding whether he had the actual ability to perform in the Premier League.

It was evident that the winger had electric pace, but his technical attributes were lacking, and he consistently struggled to create chances for Wagner’s side.

Granted, Huddersfield’s competitiveness as a team dropped considerably during their second term back in the Premier League, but as a big summer signing, Diakhaby should’ve helped prevent that.

Injury woes also severely limited his impact, with the forward making just 13 appearances all season. However, he didn’t manage a single goal contributing during that time, which is far from what Huddersfield were hoping for when they signed him.

Eventually, Diakhaby would go on to play 48 times for the Yorkshire outfit but still couldn’t manage a single goal contribution and was released in 2021. Overall, the Terriers wasted £9m at a time when their transfers had to be perfect and paid the ultimate price of relegation.

As previously mentioned, Huddersfield Town were competing against sides with much bigger budgets than they had and therefore needed to approach the transfer market smartly.

Spending £9m on Diakhaby didn’t turn out to be a clever move and perhaps if that money had been invested more wisely, they would’ve had a better chance of survival.

However, the Terriers ended the 2018/19 season bottom of the Premier League and 20 points away from safety, which is quite a gap to overcome.

Although signing Diakhaby was a major transfer blunder, Huddersfield were probably doomed to relegation no matter where they invested the £9m.

That doesn’t excuse the decision to sign the winger, but it does quell any potential viewpoints that he cost Town their Premier League status.