Josh Hmami will improve Harrogate Town as an attacking force after joining from FC Halifax Town
Simon Weaver believes that the addition of a player of Josh Hmami’s quality will improve Harrogate Town no end in the final third.
The 26-year-old attacking midfielder became the Sulphurites’ 10th signing of the summer this week when he joined from National League rivals FC Halifax for an undisclosed transfer fee.
A graduate of Accrington Stanley’s youth system, Hmami found the back of the net 12 times and chipped in with six assists during 42 league appearances for the Shaymen last term.
He operates primarily as a number 10 but can also play off the left, and looks like he could be a direct replacement for Reece Smith, who joined League Two Walsall last week.
And with Weaver’s number one priority ahead of the upcoming 2026/27 campaign to address his team’s inadequacies as an attacking force, Hmami is being backed to make a real difference in that regard.
“Last season, we did not score enough goals, and we didn’t have enough competition for places, particularly in the attacking third,” the Town boss told the Harrogate Advertiser.
"I think that Josh really helps improve us in that department. He will provide real competition and strengthens our squad with what he has to offer.
"He is quite a physical number 10, which I like, and possesses a lot of quality. He comes to us off the back of a superb season in the National League with Halifax and is certainly a goal-threat.
"He’s a good lad, who wanted to come here and compete for a place in our team and try to make us better.
"He wears a big smile on his face and I am looking forward to working with him.”
Reports of Harrogate’s interest in Hmami surfaced towards the end of last week, and the Halifax Courier published comments made by Shaymen boss John McGrath on Saturday afternoon confirming that the club had reluctantly accepted a bid from the Sulphurites.
"We've had a bid from Harrogate,” he said. "There's been a bid that meets the valuation we have of the player.
"Josh, for whatever reason, wants to move on and sees his football career elsewhere. We've had discussions about it over the last couple of weeks.
"Josh came to me a couple of weeks back and expressed his desire to leave the football club. We didn't want him to go, and that was followed up by an official handing in of a transfer request.
"Josh had been fantastic during my short spell with him, his training's been spot on, he's done everything I've asked, he's trained really well, he's played really well, so we didn’t want to lose him.”