Huddersfield Reward Trio With New 3-Year Deals Following Promotion to Premier League
Huddersfield Town's tidy summer business has been kept chugging along nicely after the club announced new deals for three of their first-team stars.
Tommy Smith, Jonathan Hogg and Rajiv van La Parra have all been handed new three-year deals, in an announcement made on the Terriers' official website, which will keep the trio at the club until June 2020.
Huddersfield also have the option to hand any one of their three players a 12-month extension to those deals at any point in the next three years as well.
Hogg, Smith and La Parra were all instrumental in helping Town secure promotion to England's top tier for the first time in 45 years last season, and manager David Wagner said the contract renewals were just reward for the triumvirate ahead of the 2017/18 campaign.
He said: “In addition to the news of extensions for Chris Löwe and Elias Kachunga last week, the new contracts for Tommy, ‘Hoggy’ and Rajiv are very important pieces of business for this Club.
“All three players were so important to the team last season – key to the success we enjoyed – and will continue to be big players for us this season.
BURY, ENGLAND - JULY 16: Rajiv Van La Parra of Huddersfield Town in action during the pre season friendly game against Bury at Gigg Lane on July 16, 2017 in Bury, England. (Photo by Clint Hughes/Getty Images)
Clint Hughes/GettyImages
“Tommy had a standout season last year and full deserved the recognition he received from his place in the Team of the Year. He’s a big figure in the dressing room too; he was a superb leader for us on and off the pitch last season.
“Everyone knows I love ‘Hoggy’ too. He is the player that embodies our ‘Terriers Identity’ more than any other and I know he will relish the challenge of showing this against the top-quality midfielders of the Premier League this season.
“Rajiv is such an exciting talent and I fully believe that he still has a big space to improve, which is great considering what a threat he is for us on the pitch already.
"Last season, we were a better team when Rajiv was playing; he can cause the opposition problems and is a big asset in our transitional play. I’m looking forward to seeing how he adapts to the Premier League challenge too.”
Hogg, a 28-year-old centre midfielder, has accumulated 131 appearances for the Yorkshire outfit since he completed a July 2013 transfer from Watford.
Right-back Smith has turned out 157 times since moving to the Kirklees Stadium in September 2012, while left winger La Parra has featured on 57 occasions since July 2016 following a £750k switch from Wolves.
