Huddersfield have become the second Championship club in two days to be placed under a transfer embargo.
The Terriers, who are reportedly under threat of going into administration, were given the penalty after submitting their annual accounts late with Burnley handed the same punishment on Sunday.
EFL rules stipulate that Championship clubs must submit their accounts to the league by no later than March 1 "following the end of the financial year to which those Annual Accounts relate." It means they are not allowed to sign or register new players until the issue is resolved.
That's likely to be the case should The Terriers submit their accounts by March 31, which is the government's deadline. In the short-term, it does impact manager Neil Warnock's plans to delve into the free transfer market.
Warnock has opened up the possibility of signing free agents to help bolster their Championship survival bid. His side are currently 23rd in the league, six points adrift of safety with just 10 matches left to play.
Huddersfield have declined to comment on the matter but it raises more debate about their future following speculation over the weekend that they could be heading into administration following takeover interest from Dutch businessman and owner of AZ Alkmaar Rene Neelissen.
According to Yorkshire Live, the threat of administration could be a way of helping to speed up the takeover process after chairman Dean Hoyle put the club up for sale last year. Their previous chairman, Phil Hodgkinson, went into administration in November 2021 which ultimately led to his resignation.
In October, Huddersfield announced that Doyle was to step away from day-to-day running of the club on health grounds, which has seemingly prevented him from making a full takeover bid from Hodgkinson who owns 75 per cent of the club.
If Huddersfield go into administration, they will receive a 12-point deduction which will confirm their relegation to League One. If it happens after March 23, then the points penalty will roll into next season and therefore, with relegation already looming, they could take their medicine this month to allow a rebuild over the summer.
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