Sorba Thomas Signs For Town: Project Josh Koroma

In the recent few days, Huddersfield Town have been linked, alongside many other EFL clubs, for the signing of Sorba Thomas, one of the prized assets of non-league football, and on Wednesday afternoon the inside forward was announced as a Terrier.

Thomas graduated through the Boreham Wood academy as a left-back in the early stages of his career however has since shifted to a more advanced role on the left-hand side or even in the number 10 position. This is due to the player’s trickiness, explosiveness and ability in front of goal.

The fee is undisclosed but from Boreham Wood’s Twitter page the club had received a record-breaking six-figure fee, following an unsuccessful six-figure bid from Charlton and interest from other EFL sides such as QPR and Barnsley had been attempting to secure the 21-year old’s signature but it was Huddersfield who would be to manage to pull off the signing.

Following the announcement, I spoke to @JoshGafson1 about the signing and this is what he had to say about the young forward:

“He’s a very versatile player who started off his Boreham Wood career playing at LWB. This is his natural position, however, he can play as a winger and in behind the striker in the number 10 role.

“He’s an explosive winger with bags of pace and skill who can terrorise defenders and get round them with ease.

“Whilst he isn’t known for his goals, over the past year he’s really improved that part of his game, and I’m sure will go on to score many more for Huddersfield. I think the step-up will be big, but with a bit of time, he’ll be able to make it no doubt.”

Thomas had played 10 times for Boreham Wood in the league up to this point in the campaign and scored three goals with no assists but also played every minute of Boreham Wood’s FA Cup Journey, playing three games and getting an assist to his name before being knocked out of the competition by Millwall in the third round earlier this month.

When speaking to Huddersfield Town today in his first interview Thomas mentioned how the style of play that Carlos Corberan has brought to the West Yorkshire side interested him and was one of the reasons why he signed:

“They’re an attacking team which straight away excited me… The style of play was massive.

Credit: Boreham Wood FC

“Huddersfield was the right move, the style of play was very attacking which could exploit some of my talents and make me a better player… I like to test my self, with this gaffer and this team they can do that.”

In his interview, Thomas also spoke about the links between him and Huddersfield’s star player before his injury, Josh Koroma, stating: “the first team gaffer at Boreham used to compare me to Josh Koroma”.

Personally, I think that is a massive reason for his signing and seeing the success of Koroma this season will be a massive motivator for the new signing.

Town’s transfer business so far this season has seen two signings, both versatile wingers who will need to take time to develop before turning into first-team players but this is the model that Koroma has set and this chance will no doubt be taken by both Danny Grant and Thomas but the links between the latter and Koroma are obvious.

Both Thomas and Koroma have started their careers in the academies of Boreham Wood and Leyton Orient respectfully and developed into key players for their sides at the time, providing flair, drive and goal threat from the wing and fitting the model for present-day wingers.

In today’s game, the winger’s job is not only just to create assists but to cut inside and score as well, as we have seen from Koroma time after time this season, however, it is vital to remember that this hasn’t been an easy journey for Koroma.

The 22-year-old had an unsuccessful start to his Huddersfield career moving from London at the age of 20 for Huddersfield, the first six months of his Huddersfield career was filled with time on the bench and a few minutes on the pitch here and there. When the January window came around Koroma was loaned to Rotherham for the remainder of the season.

The loan was once again unsuccessful for Koroma where he played five games for Rotherham before the ending of the season and with the winger claiming no contributions to his name in that time, there was doubt if he would be able to fill the shoes left by Karlan Grant who departed for West Bromwich Albion in the summer.

However, under Corberan, Koroma has come on leaps and bounds and had six goals and two assists in 16 appearances before his injury, but looks to be a vital part of Huddersfield’s squad if they want to push for the Play-Offs in the future and I believe given the time to develop, Thomas will be deemed just as important.

Let me know your opinions about the new signing in the comments below and whether you believe Thomas will develop well at Huddersfield alongside Corberan.

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