Julian Winter, Huddersfield Town’s Chief Executive, gave an interview to the club’s official YouTube account which revealed the clubs current transfer dealings, the status of the club’s ownership and the ongoing search for a head of football operations.

Town closing in on FIVE new players

The biggest revelation in the interview was that Town are currently in talks with five players that they are hoping to sign soon. It’s hard to know how close these players are to signing on the dotted line, but Winter described them all as “in transit”. These signings are replacements for the eight senior players that left the club at the end of the season due to contracts running out and loans expiring.

There are plenty of rumours knocking around at the moment about who these players could be, but Winter was understandably tight-lipped about who these players might be. It’s reasonable to think that one of those players close to committing to Town could be Reece Brown from Forrest Green Rovers given the recent speculation. His impressive record of assists and goals from midfield would make him a welcome addition, particularly given he’s available on a free transfer.

It’s likely these potential signings are just the start of rebuilding Town’s squad, as it’s likely we’ll see more senior players leave once transfers away can be agreed.

The search for a new head of football operations

Winter confirmed that they’re holding interviews in the next fortnight to find a new head of football operations, which is their current title for the director of football role that has been vacant for since Olaf Rebbe left the club shortly after David Wagner’s exit in January this year. Of all the new arrivals at Town this season, it could be this appointment is most influential in Town’s hopes for the future. The last two people in this role, Rebbe and David Moss, were far from successful so it’s important to get it right this time.

The “Football Forum” making transfer decisions

Don’t worry, they’re not going to let the posters from Down at the Mac select Town’s transfers (otherwise we’d probably end up with Christa Ackroyd playing up front).The Football Forum is the name they use for the committee of people at Town that make transfer decisions.

The group is made up of the owner (Currently Dean Hoyle but soon to transfer to Phil Hodgkinson), the chief executive (Julian Winter), head of football operations (vacant), head of recruitment (Josh Marsh), head of youth team (Leigh Bromby), performance coach (Jon Iger) , player care (Mark Fagan) and obviously the head coach (Jan Siewert). This group is called the “football forum”.

I know literally nothing about the best way to run a football club, so take my opinions with a pinch of salt, but that sounds like a lot of people getting involved in buying and selling players. I’m concerned about how much influence the manager has on the players that are being brought in. While it would be daft to let Jan Siewert take sole charge of transfers, I hope he is given the final say on player recruitment and has a veto over the rest of the members of the committee.

I personally believe that Town’s relegation was mostly due to a poor transfer window last summer, where key positions were not adequately recruited for and we paid the price over the course of the season. Hopefully lessons have been learned and we can find the players we need this transfer window and the manager will be given the players he needs to make us competitive in the Championship.

“We are a trading club and we shouldn’t be frightened of that.”

The above quote was given to explain that we can expect plenty of comings and goings this season. The five players mentioned at the top of this article will be the start, but as players leave the club there will be the possibility of more arriving too. While there are several players on Town’s books that have made clear their intentions to move on this summer, it may be that some fan favourites could also be up for sale.

Thankfully Town are in a strong negotiating position, as the generous parachute payments from the Premier League mean that there are no players on our books that have to leave. I’m certain plenty will head for the exit, but it will only be on terms that are acceptable to the club.

Signings will be made to fit 4-3-3

One interesting bit of information revealed in the video was Jan Siewert’s desire to play a 4-3-3 system next season. Which suggests we’ll be playing an attacking form of football but moving away from the 4-2-3-1 system that David Wagner played in most of his games.

Watch the video below: