Huddersfield Town hit the jackpot with transfer that landed them big £15m windfall | OneFootball

Philip Billing signed for Huddersfield Town on a free transfer in 2013 and was sold for a huge profit years later

Philip Billing signed for Huddersfield Town in 2013 and progressed his way through the youth ranks to the first team before being sold on for a huge profit in 2019.

Danish international Philip Billing has over 250 appearances in the top two tiers of English football and is an Italian champion, yet his journey to that stage was not a conventional one.

Born in his native Denmark, Billing made the decision to switch from Esbjerg to Huddersfield Town in 2013, initially on a youth contract before signing his first professional deal later that year.

The six-foot-six-inch midfielder made his professional debut as a late substitute in a 2-0 home loss against Leicester City in April 2014, but Terriers fans would have no idea what would be in store for them in the coming years.

The Dane began to feature more regularly in the following campaign, making 13 Championship appearances and scoring his first professional goal in a 30-yard bullet against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, a stadium he would go on to enjoy great success at.

Under German boss David Wagner, Billing made 24 Championship appearances at Huddersfield and beat Reading in the play-off final to secure a place in the Premier League for the first time in the club's history.

Huddersfield Town would sell Philip Billing for £15 million to Bournemouth in 2019 upon their relegation from the Premier League

Huddersfield would spend two seasons in the Premier League under both David Wagner and, later, Jan Siewert, the latter of whom Billing did not have a good relationship with.

The Dane made just 16 Premier League appearances in his first season in the top flight, with many of those coming as a substitute, unable to displace either Aaron Mooy or Jonathan Hogg in the midfield.

His game time saw an upturn in the Terriers' second season in the top flight, and though they were relegated on a miserable 16 points, Billing made 27 appearances and broke into the midfield on a more regular basis, garnering the attention of other clubs in the top flight.

AFC Bournemouth would offer £15 million to bring Billing to the South Coast, after it was clear that his time with the club was up, having admitted months before that he wanted out of West Yorkshire, telling Danish outlet, Ekstra Bladet: "I have to try something new.

"The Premier League is fantastic and I love English football culture. I know there is interest from others in England and abroad. Where it all ends, time will tell."

Indeed, he would remain in England with Bournemouth and would later open up about his regrets on how he left the club, saying: "When I left Huddersfield, I didn’t leave how I wanted to. I’d been there for so long.

"There’s nothing I can do about it now and it is what it is. There were things going on behind the scenes which the supporters didn’t know about. But looking back, I wish I’d handled that situation better and left on a more positive note."

His relationship with Huddersfield fans had soured, and upon their relegation, many supporters were glad to see the back of him.

Having signed for free, helped them to the Premier League, and earned them a pure profit of £15 million, despite how he exited the club, it can't be denied that Huddersfield hit the jackpot on the signing of Billing.

Upon leaving Huddersfield for Bournemouth, Billing made 34 Premier League appearances for the Cherries under Eddie Howe but suffered a second consecutive relegation.

His return to the Championship was emphatic, making 74 league appearances across the next two campaigns in the English second tier, scoring 18 and grabbing 14 assists after being pushed forward closer to Dominic Solanke by head coach Scott Parker to great effect.

The Dane continued to be a regular for the Cherries in the Premier League following their promotion back in 2022, but found his game time limited in the second half of the 2024/25 season, and would subsequently head out on loan to Napoli for the second half of the season.

Under Antonio Conte, Billing helped Napoli win the Scudetto before returning to the English South Coast in the summer, and the Dane would return to his native country in a £5 million deal with FC Midtjylland.

Having been signed for nothing by Huddersfield in 2013 and sold for £15 million six years later, Billing made over 250 appearances between the Premier League and Championship, and despite the fashion of how he exited the Terriers, his signing remains one of the best they have ever made, hands down.