Huddersfield Town along with Newcastle United are currently monitoring the progress of Jonathan Bamba from Ligue 1 side, Saint Etienne. The 21-year-old’s contract is set to end after this season and he can be approached for pre-contractual agreements without paying a transfer fee to the French outfit. While it will be a huge loss for Etienne, David Wagner can capitalize on the situation by providing Bamba with a lucrative deal and bring him to Kirklees Stadium.
Bamba is primarily a winger by trade but can feature in the striker role as well. He has been shifted around in the final third quite a lot this season and this has allowed him to rack up 7 goals and 6 assists. He floated in a ball towards Robert Beric who scored the equalizer in the final quarter of the 2-2 draw against Marseille last weekend.
Bamba is a product of the St. Etienne youth academy and had made his debut against the league leaders, Paris Saint-Germain themselves on 25th January 2015. He had to spend the past couple of the seasons out on loan to Paris FC, Sint-Truiden and Angers SCO to pick up crucial first team experience and develop his game. He has been capped at international level for the France U16, U18, U20, U21 sides all around 20 times.
With bags of talent yet to be showcased on the grand European stage, Bamba is expected to take up the offers from either of the Premier League sides if one does come in before the summer. Huddersfield are locked in on a survival battle for the remainder of the campaign and securing a second season in top-flight English football will demand quality additions come June. Bamba’s age and versatility make him an easy option to invest in for the Terriers if they want to keep competing against the elites.
Wagner’s men delt out a 4-goal thrashing to Bournemouth on Sunday to clear a point above the bottom three. They were on a bad run of 5 consecutive losses in the league and it looks like they are still in the fight. Ruling them out including any other team in the bottom half of the table will be a huge mistake especially now that the point differential has declined to just 4 points between Watford and Southampton.
The front line already has been bolstered by the additions of Alex Pritchard in January and Steve Mounie has looked impressive over the course of the season. Bamba’s arrival will only help further the energy and talent into the Terriers squad despite their success or failure to stay in the first division.
