Huddersfield Town attacking-midfielder Jack Payne has completed a loan move to Sky Bet League 1 outfit Oxford United until the end of the 2017/2018 season.
He’ll play for new U’s boss Pep Clotet, Garry Monk’s assistant at The Terriers’ West Yorkshire rivals Leeds United last term, who’ll have the option of extending the deal if a Play-Off place is achieved.
A spell elsewhere has seemed increasingly more likely as the summer’s been rolling on, with David Wagner overseeing a flurry of transfer activity which has seen ten new faces arrive at the John Smith’s Stadium, half of which are attack-minded.
Payne hungry for more game time
Formerly at Southend United where he started his career in the fourth tier of English football under Phil Brown, Payne coincidentally netted his first professional strike against Oxford in September 2014.
After joining Huddersfield on a free transfer in July 2016, Payne was limited to just ten starts throughout the whole of the 2016/2017 season and has clearly taken the substantial step down in class for more minutes.
Wagner’s attack consistently clicked though, which made it understandable why game time was a rarity, although important goals were scored when he did feature, including the winner in Town’s first victory at Newcastle United since 1954.
The move offers a big chance to shine
If the Londoner impresses at the Kassam Stadium, his creativity and eye for goal would without a doubt be welcome attributes to bolster the Huddersfield Town squad ahead of, what fans will hope is, a second season in the Premier League.
Payne is the sixth departure in the current transfer window and the fifth to move down to Sky Bet League 1. Left-back Tareiq Holmes-Dennis and striker Jordy Hiwula have been loaned out to Portsmouth and Fleetwood Town respectively.
Meanwhile, centre-midfielder Kyle Dempsey has also linked up with Fleetwood, but on a permanent basis, goalkeeper Joe Murphy has left for Bury and young Albanian Flo Bojaj’s contract was not renewed.