Why a new deal for Jacob Chapman is good news for Huddersfield Town
According to Examiner Live, Huddersfield Town have secured the long-term future of Australian goalkeeper Jacob Chapman with a new deal.
The 20-year-old shot-stopper has been rewarded with a new three-year deal as a result of his rapid development in the club’s youth ranks and Chapman is now under contract at the John Smith’s Stadium until the summer of 2022.
The Wahroonga-born shot-stopper was selected as a 12-year-old for the Football Federation Australia’s ‘Talented Player Pathway’; a programme of the New South Wales Football Institute and he went on to play youth and senior football for Sydney United 58 FC and Marconi Stallions before arriving in England last year in November.
Having initially joined Huddersfield Town as a trialist last year, Chapman earned himself as professional deal in West Yorkshire after impressing the Terriers’ youth coaching staff and he hasn’t looked back since then.
The Socceroos shot-stopper has gone from strength to strength over the past eight months, establishing himself as a regular in the club’s Elite Development Team.
Chapman, who recently kept a clean sheet for Huddersfield Town’s U-23 side against Sunderland in the Premier League Cup, has already made nine starts for the Terriers’ Elite Development side and the U-19s, while also featuring as an over-age player for the U-17 side.
Chapman, who was also involved in the club’s pre-season fixtures, is held in high regard by the coaches in the academy and, while he is yet to make a senior breakthrough, the club faithful certainly have high hopes of him making the grade in the near future.
To that end, a new deal for Jacob Chapman should definitely come as a massive boost to Huddersfield’s long-term plans moving forward under the stewardship of Danny Cowley, who took over the reins from Jan Siewert last month following the Terriers’ nightmarish start to the Championship campaign.
The Terriers signed highly-rated Polish U-21 goalkeeper Kamil Grabara on loan from Liverpool at the start of the season following the departure of Jonas Lossl, who moved to Everton on a free transfer after serving as the first-choice in the Premier League.
Grabara, though, is held in high regard at Anfield and it is unlikely that Huddersfield Town would be able to keep him beyond the end of the current campaign, regardless of whether they manage to stay up in the Championship.
He is only seen as a temporary fix and a new deal for Jacob Chapman is indicative of the fact that the Terriers are looking at the future. Huddersfield, of course, have highly-rated academy graduate Ryan Schofield competing for a place in the team at the moment.
An immensely talented England U-20 international, Schofield has made a few sporadic appearances over the past couple of seasons but the door is still very much open for other players to come through the ranks and make an impact.
Joel Coleman has found himself out of favour in recent years and if Chapman continues to impress for the U-23s, he might as well find himself fast-tracked into the first-team fold next season.
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Cowley did a fantastic job in developing up and coming players from the academy during his previous managerial stint at Lincoln City and the Terriers need him to do something similar if they are to move forward in the right direction.
All in all, a new deal for Jacob Chapman is certainly a step in the right direction for the Terriers and one that could go on to reap rich rewards in the years to come.