Bristol Rovers followed head over heart despite gutting Huddersfield Town blow: View | OneFootball

Bristol Rovers add-on clauses in Antony Evans Huddersfield Town deal could demonstrate smart business

Highlights

Huddersfield Town have completed the signing of 25-year-old midfielder Antony Evans from Bristol Rovers for an undisclosed fee.

As first reported by Bristol Live, it is believed the initial fee is in the region of £450,000.

And Football League World understands that Bristol Rovers have included add-on clauses which could yet still see that fee rise further, which are related to appearances and promotion. So should Evans feature prominently in a promotion-winning campaign for Huddersfield Town then the Memorial Stadium outfit will also benefit.

Despite the strong wishes of the club to hold onto their talented playmaker - with reported interest from Portsmouth, Birmingham City, and Huddersfield Town, as well as the fact that Evans had turned down offers from the club to renew his contract as he entered into its final year, Rovers were always going to find it difficult to hold on to their star player.

Head over heart

The Gas had made several offers to Evans to extend his stay with the club, with manager Matt Taylor telling reporters towards the end of the last campaign that Evans had received a number of offers from Bristol Rovers.

However, the club now appears to have gone head over heart and played this smartly with the still fledgling recruitment team able to take great credit for making the Evans transfer saga, really not much of a saga at all.

The deal appears to have moved pretty quickly and the first signing of the summer made a strong statement that whether Evans should leave or stay, the club had secured a like-for-like replacement for him in talented former Derby County youngster Isaac Hutchinson, who was lighting up League Two last season. Some Gasheads were even daring to dream of an Evans and Hutchinson partnership in midfield.

Gasheads raise doubts over £450,000 fee

There are some doubts, however, among Gasheads across social media that the Rovers have not received the correct value for Evans, with many suggesting £450,000 seems a bit light for someone who could still yet succeed at a higher level. And that’s where add-on clauses can help.

Rovers have a proven track record of installing add-ons which can yield significant returns. Jonson Clarke-Harris is perhaps the best example of that in recent times with his sale raising significantly more funds as he achieved success with Peterborough United.

Evans’ true value will be demonstrated on how his career progresses from here and should he gain promotion while featuring prominently for the Terriers in that journey then Rovers again will have done a smart piece of business.

Bristol Rovers signed Evans from SC Paderborn on a free transfer in 2021 and he would go on to become a key player for the BS7 outfit as they achieved automatic promotion from League Two in 2021-2022 and consolidated their League One status in the next two campaigns.

Evans was a shining light for Bristol Rovers

Evans has been a shining light for Bristol Rovers during his tenure at the club – only last season, he received the award for Player of the Season at the club. He appeared 142 times for the Gas scoring 26 goals with 26 assists.

He will be remembered fondly for his skill set and his contributions, if not just because of the potential financial rewards, will wish him success at his new club. Although that goodwill will likely be frozen for a time when Bristol Rovers are reunited with the talented midfielder as Rovers first visit the John Smith’s Stadium on October 19th, before Evans returns to the Mem in March 2025.