Sheffield Wednesday: Danny Cowley appointed new Huddersfield Town manager

Cowley, who was heavily linked with the Sheffield Wednesday job ahead of the appointment of Garry Monk last week, left Lincoln City on Monday after agreeing a three-year deal with the Terriers.

The 40-year-old initially turned down an offer of £1.5million a year to join Huddersfield after the Terriers had triggered his £1m compensation package with the Imps.

Reports in the national press claim Cowley was offered the Owls role last Wednesday but rejected it due to reservations over how much control he would have in the recruitment of players. Cowley publicly denied that he had any contact with Wednesday regarding their managerial position.

And Terriers owner and chairman Phil Hodgkinson maintained his pursuit of Cowley over the weekend and Cowley is believed to have accepted a fourth offer from the Championship club on Sunday night.

Cowley will be assisted by his younger brother Nicky at the John Smith's Stadium.

"Nicky and I have a burning ambition to challenge ourselves at the highest possible level," said Cowley in a statement on Lincoln's website.

"We don't know if an opportunity as good as this one will come around again and we never want to live with regret."

The 40-year-old, regarded as one of most highly-regarded coaches in the lower leagues, having guided Lincoln from the National League to fifth in League One since taking over in May 2016, presided over Lincoln's 1-0 Carabao Cup win at Huddersfield in Jan Siewert's penultimate match in charge of the Terriers.

Cowley will take over from caretaker boss Mark Hudson, who has not been able to stop the Terriers’ slide down the table, losing all three of his matches.

Huddersfield chief Hodgkinson said: "Having approached Lincoln City and gained permission to speak to the Cowleys, they initially decided they wanted to continue the superb job they had done at that club and turned down the opportunity to discuss our job.

"At that stage we could have easily pursued one of the other options we had identified - all of which are fine managers - but we felt it was important to try to persuade them to talk to us. We firmly believed that they were the best men to take us forward, and we didn't want to give up on them.

"Our persistence paid off and when we spoke, there was an obvious chemistry. They believe in the way we operate as a club and it affirmed that they would be a superb fit for us. As such, I'm delighted that they are joining us."

Danny is believed to have rejected offers from West Bromwich Albion and Hull City earlier in the summer and has previously been linked with Barnsley and Ipswich.

Huddersfield, who entertain the Owls after the international break on Sunday, are in freefall, having won just once in all competitions since the end of November and are currently on a 17-match winless sequence.