MOUNIE, INCE AND KACHUNGA FROM THE SPOT AS WAGNER’S MEN PURR IN ‘NEW’ ALTERNATE KIT

A COMPETITIVE ball hasn’t even been kicked so far this campaign and Huddersfield Town are already embarrassing their Premier League rivals.

After a whirlwind week witnessed eight signings arrive through the John Smith’s Stadium door, Town’s transfer activity has taken a lull in proceedings over the course of the last seven days.

Understandably head coach David Wagner wants to take stock of his newlyassembled squad before making any further potential forays into the transfer market.

But make no mistake, if and when they do there will be no desperate transfer deadline day scramble, no awkward fax mis-haps, no delayed deals due to sleeping players at airports or, even worse, unscrupulous ‘tapups’.

These are all tales of woe which have befallen some of the Premier League’s more ‘illustrious’ competitors, but something Huddersfield Town have safeguarded themselves against by getting the majority of their business done early.

A similar trick to the one in which they pulled last term, ahead of David Wagner’s first full season at the club – and that didn’t work out too badly, did it?

It has also meant the club have been at the forefront of what is set to become a record Premier League spending spree – their nine new arrivals the highest total number of new faces brought into a club so far this summer.

And for sides who have previously reached the Promised Land via the playoffs, when the harsh realities of the league begin to bite, these clubs often end up defending their ineptitude by claiming to have had less time to prepare for top-flight football than their counterparts.

Granted, it can be a restricting factor, but Town’s transfer deals, far from the ‘scatter gun’ approach some detractors have labelled it, has been smart value for money business at a time when the club’s overall stock could not be any higher.

In contrast, fellow promoted Sky Bet Championship clubs Brighton & Hove Albion and Newcastle, faced with the same challenging chasm between the two divisions, have so far been left frustrated in their recruitment efforts.

Magpies boss Rafa Benitez has even decried this summer transfer window as ‘crazy’ due to some of the astronomical prices he has reportedly been quoted for players of interest.

A flimsy excuse with it more likely to be a case that these clubs are not looking in the right places – with their scouting network perhaps not up to sufficient Premier League standard.

Again, this is where the mysterious Svengali, Town’s new head of football operations David Moss, has worked wonders – bringing in a number of young, hungry players at prices that should hold a solid market value whatever the overall fate of the club is this season.

Elsewhere, while Premier League giants Manchester City close in on a full-back for a reported £55m, Town reward one of their own with a new deal to commit him to the club for the foreseeable future.

Chris Lowe may not be in the same quality bracket as Kyle Walker, but it once again shows shrewd business sense to not only reward the current crop for their recent exploits but simultaneously secure the club’s long-term interests.

In a league awash with riches, Huddersfield Town continue to buck the trend and prove vast amounts of wealth are not necessarily the vital ingredient in the pursuit of glory – more a case of what you do with it and when.

The newly-promoted club have positioned themselves as league upstarts off-the-field with their work so far – here’s hoping come August 12 they continue on-the-field as well.