Huddersfield Town never saw Fulham, Brighton exploits of January signing | OneFootball

Anthony Knockaert failed to deliver for Huddersfield Town following strong stints with Brighton and Fulham

Former Premier League and Championship star Anthony Knockaert announced his retirement from professional football during the summer of 2024, after suffering relegation to the French third tier with Valenciennes.

While he retired at just 32, the wideman enjoyed several memorable spells in his career, including with English sides Brighton and Fulham.

Huddersfield Town never saw the same of Knockaert as Fulham and Brighton

Knockaert produced one of the finest individual campaigns the Championship has witnessed in modern times back in 2016/17, and was rightfully named the second tier's Player of the Year following such a stellar season.

That term, the Frenchman notched an incredible return of 15 goals and eight assists in 45 Championship outings, which fired Brighton all the way to the Premier League for the first time in the club's history.

He subsequently helped the Seagulls remain in the top-flight, scoring three goals as well as creating one assist during the 2017/18 Premier League season, and also played a key role when the Sussex outfit reached the 2019 FA Cup semi-final.

After etching himself into Seagulls history, Knockaert joined Fulham, then of the Championship, on loan ahead of the 2019/20 season.

While the wideman did not hit the prolific heights of his last campaign in the second tier with Brighton, his haul of three goals and four assists helped the Craven Cottage side win promotion to the Premier League, via a play-off final victory over local rivals Brentford.

That was enough to convince Fulham to make Knockaert's move to West London a permanent one, but he never featured in the Premier League for the Whites, and subsequently joined Nottingham Forest on loan, midway through the 2020/21 Championship season.

The winger endured yet another loan spell away from the Whites during the first half of the 2022/23 campaign, as he joined Greek outfit NFC Volos.

By January 2023, it was Huddersfield who acquired the former Brighton man's services on loan, and the Terriers had hoped Knockaert could produce the sort of performances that had previously helped both Fulham and the Seagulls on their way to promotion.

The West Yorkshire side found themselves locked into a relegation battle at the point at which they signed the wideman, so they were in desperate need of the additional quality his previous spells in the second tier suggested he could bring to the table.

However, the former France youth international went on to make just five Championship appearances for the Terriers, and failed to score a single goal, albeit he did produce one assist.

But despite Knockaert's lack of impact, the Terriers, then managed by Neil Warnock, successfully staved off the threat of relegation that year, but would eventually end up in the bottom three come the end of the 2023/24 season.

Knockaert's disappointing Terriers spell summed up an unsuccessful season

After Huddersfield reached the 2022 play-off final, following a remarkable campaign in which they finished third in the Championship table, supporters would have been hopeful that their side could enjoy a successful 2022/23 campaign.

However, it wasn't to be, as the Terriers in fact required the unparalleled expertise of Warnock to keep them in the second tier, which was a far cry from the trip to Wembley they had enjoyed just 12 months previously.

Meanwhile, the fact that Knockaert, who had previously shown that he was capable of being one of the best players in the Championship, failed to deliver in Terriers colours summed up a largely miserable campaign.

His time with the Terriers was certainly at the wrong point of his career, if you're of a Huddersfield persuasion.