Terriers trio put pen to paper on new deals
- Tommy Smith, Jonathan Hogg & Rajiv van La Parra sign new contracts
- Trio put pen to paper on contracts running until 2020
- Club has the option to extend all three by an extra year
Another trio of Town’s Premier League promotion-winning team have committed their futures to the Club by signing new contracts; Tommy Smith, Jonathan Hogg and Rajiv van La Parra.
Smith, Hogg and RVLP have put pen to paper on three-year contracts running until 2020, with the Club having the option of a further year’s extension into 2021.
All three players were an integral part of the team that has secured the Club’s top flight return after a 45-year absence.
25 year-old Tommy initially joined the Club’s Development Squad from Manchester City in the summer of 2012 and soon established himself as a First Team regular. He captained the side during the second half of the 2016/17 promotion campaign and earned a place in the Sky Bet Championship Team of the Year for his defensive and attacking play.
Likewise, Hogg is another stalwart of the team, having joined in the summer of 2012 upon the team’s promotion to the Championship. The central midfield battler, 28, embodies the ‘Terriers Identity’ that David Wagner frequently discusses and made a welcome early return from a horrific neck injury at Bristol City in March 2017 to star in the push for promotion.
Dutchman van La Parra is a more recent recruit, joining Town permanently last summer after a successful loan spell at the end of the 2015/16 campaign. Now 26, he was a near permanent fixture on the left side of David Wagner’s team last season, exciting Town fans with his pace, skill and trickery up the flank.
Huddersfield Town Head Coach David Wagner commented:
“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.
“Tommy had a standout season last year and full deserved the recognition he received from his place in the Team of the Year. I said to him very early into my time here that I believed he could be one of the best right backs in the Championship and he achieved this through hard work on the training pitch every day. 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. He’s another huge character in the dressing room and his winning mentality is exactly what we need as we face a new challenge.
“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.”
