Huddersfield Town must push to seal £2m Plymouth Argyle deal to help unlock promotion | OneFootball

A January move for Plymouth Argyle's Ryan Hardie could prove vital to Huddersfield's promotion hopes

After relegation from the Championship at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, Huddersfield Town are in contention to make an immediate return to the second tier of English football.

Michael Duff's Terriers side currently sit in 4th place in League One, although they do have a number of games in hand which could prove vital in closing the gap on the automatic promotion places.

However, it's the January transfer window which could make all the difference between winning promotion or not, and it could well be a busy month at The John Smith's Stadium as Duff looks to bolster his ranks.

As exclusively revealed by Football League World, Huddersfield and their League One rivals Wrexham are both keen to sign Plymouth Argyle's Ryan Hardie this month, and a signing of that quality could well get Huddersfield over the line in the race for promotion.

Ryan Hardie move could unlock promotion for Huddersfield Town

It's not very often that clubs in League One are able to sign a key player from a Championship side, but both Huddersfield and Wrexham are ready to meet Hardie's £2million buyout close in what would be a huge blow to Plymouth's survival hopes.

However, if Huddersfield were able to secure the 27-year-old's signature, it would be a huge boost to their promotion hopes, with Hardie displaying his talents at League One level in the past.

The former Rangers man has experienced winning promotion from League One in the past, helping Plymouth to the title during the 2022/23 campaign where he scored 13 goals in 44 appearances, and you can almost guarantee that he'd be a regular scorer for Huddersfield should he sign.

Just last season, the Plymouth striker bagged 12 Championship goals in a side that narrowly avoided relegation, showing his quality and goalscoring prowess, and while his form this season hasn't been as impressive, it's easy to see why he's on the radar of clubs like Huddersfield and Wrexham.

£2million is a lot of money for League One clubs to spend on one player, but if Hardie is able to fire Huddersfield to promotion he'd be worth every penny and a fresh start away from Home Park could reignite his career after a tough couple of months.

64 goals and 22 assists in 230 appearances for the Pilgrims shows that he's a player who will bring goals to the John Smith's Stadium, and his signing could well make all the difference when it comes to Huddersfield winning promotion.

Ryan Hardie could solve Huddersfield Town's striker woes

The Terriers have a number of strikers on their books but none of them have been prolific, and a reliable goalscorer is what they are missing this season.

Their 36 league goals this season is 14 fewer than Wycombe Wanderers have scored, showing that they could do with someone like Hardie who would score goals.

Duff has the likes of Bojan Radulovic, Freddie Ladapo, Danny Ward, Rhys Healey and Callum Marshall as his striker options, but the five of them combined have scored just eight league goals this season, showing they need a quality option up front this month.

What will concern Duff is that six of those eight goals have been scored by Marshall, who is on loan from West Ham, so he's not a long-term option, and regardless of what league Huddersfield are in next season, a striker will be needed.

Huddersfield have all the foundations in place to push on and compete for automatic promotion during the second half of the season, but the one missing ingredient is a quality striker, and signing Hardie would certainly solve that.

Missing out on his signature to Wrexham would be a huge blow given they're both competing for promotion, and you feel as if Huddersfield need Hardie more than the Red Dragons.

It's set to be a busy couple of weeks at The John Smith's Stadium, but if Duff was able to convince Hardie to make the move to Yorkshire, then his side would be well-placed to win promotion.