According to the Mirror, newly promoted Huddersfield are trying to get their hands on West Ham striker Ashley Fletcher as manager David Wagner wants to strengthen his side.
There’s no doubt that Huddersfield will not just live the dream of playing the Premier League but will try to survive in the English top flight as well. In David Wagner, they have an ambitious coach who has a very good scouting experience all over Europe. Recently, the German American has been looking at ex-Man United youth player Ashley Fletcher in order bolster his sides’ offensive firepower.
Ashley Fletcher came into the limelight after impressing the youth departments at Manchester United. But his growth wasn’t as swift as his former teammate, Marcus Rashford, with whom he grew up in the youth ranks. However, Fletcher did outperform the current Man United wonder kid in his two U-20 matches with England where he played a major role.
He first started hitting his strides on loan at Barnsley, where he helped the Tykes achieve a sixth-placed finish in the Championship, scoring nine goals and picking up six assists in his 26 games for the club. In fact, Barnsley chairman Maurice Watkins was keen to keep him at the club stating –
“The loan system is changing, but still if Premier League clubs loan out their young talent they will want them to play and develop, and I believe Ashley has done that.
“It would be fantastic to have Ashley with us in the Championship but we will have to open up our discussions and see where we get to.
“I do know the people at Manchester United from my previous associations there – that could help, you never know!” [via MUFCLatest]
However, Fletcher’s form at West Ham hasn’t been that exciting. He played only 354 mins in the English top flight for the Hammers, where he was given an awful 6.11 rating by whoscored. Averaging only 0.6 shots per game proves he was firmly restricted by the opposition while he also has an unwanted record of having almost one unsuccessful touches per game. Fletcher likes to play on the shoulders of the last defender which is not really a perfect fit for David Wagner’s style of play.
For Huddersfield however, it would be a slight risk to sign Fletcher, since they already have the likes of Colin Quaner, Elias Kachunga and Nahki Wells. Also the signing of Colin Quaner, who used to rule the German second division completely, failed, as he is yet to show his scoring abilities in the English soil. So the Terriers will have to be very careful with the signing of Ashley Fletcher.
For the fast paced nature of the Premier League, the relatively new teams get so little time to establish themselves in the English top division. In my opinion, Huddersfield won’t be afforded the time to garner the talent of the ex-Man United marksman, therefore, they should go for proven veterans such as Adam Szalai, who was linked with a move to Premier League club just a week ago.
