Early career

Hugill, who was a pupil at Nunthorpe School,^[4] attended George Smith's academy in Hemlington from the age of nine.^[5] He began his career with Northern League club Seaham Red Star at the age of 16, and was due to go on trial at Sunderland before he was struck down with an ankle injury in September 2009.^[6] He later moved on to Consett, but left his contract in August 2010 to spend two years at the Glenn Hoddle Academy in Spain.^[5][7]

He signed with Whitby Town in December 2011 and scored in his debut game against Nantwich Town, only to damage his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) later in the match and spend the next ten months out injured.^[7] He joined Marske United in October 2012 initially on loan so as to regain match fitness.^[7] His last appearance for Marske came in the final of the North Riding Senior Cup, where they were beaten 3–0 by Pickering Town.^[8] During his time at the club he worked as a barman at the Dickens Inn in Middlesbrough.^[9]

Port Vale

Hugill signed with League One club Port Vale in June 2013.^[10] He was loaned out to Gateshead of the Conference Premier on 20 September 2013.^[11] "Tynesiders" boss Gary Mills stated that Hugill was a "talented... goalscorer" and put him in the starting line-up for the next match.^[12] He scored his first goal for the club on 24 September in a 3–2 win over Chester at the Gateshead International Stadium.^[13] He finished his loan spell with five goals in four starts and three substitute appearances.

He made his debut for the "Valiants" on 22 October, and played the first 75 minutes of a 3–0 victory over Crawley Town.^[14] He performed well on his debut, justifying his manager's surprise decision to play him alongside fellow Glenn Hoddle Academy graduate Ben Williamson in place of established strikers Tom Pope and Lee Hughes.^[15]

First of all you have to say well done to our chief scout, George Foster, who spotted his potential playing in non-League. We had him with us last season and the one thing he struggled with was his fitness. Pre-season was a struggle for him as well. He is a big old boy, not used to a professional pre-season, but is one of those lads who never gives up. You ask him to pull out of things and he doesn't want to do that.

— Port Vale manager Micky Adams describing Hugill in October 2013.^[16]

He scored his first Football League goal on 16 November, scoring the final goal of a 3–1 victory over Shrewsbury Town at Vale Park; after the match Adams said that the club had "unearthed a gem" in Hugill.^[17] Hugill continued to turn out for the first-team, but admitted that he needed to work on his fitness to play a full 90 minutes of professional football.^[18] At the end of the 2013–14 campaign he was named as the club's Young Player of the Year, and also featured in Vale's Staffordshire Senior Cup final defeat to Rushall Olympic.^[19][20] However, in the summer Micky Adams confirmed that Hugill had rejected the club's offer of a new contract, and stated: "It is disappointing ... we spent a lot of time and effort with Jordan last season, but we will have to accept it."^[21] The club were forced to sell him for a cheap price, though Adams successfully negotiated a 20% sell on clause that would net the club a £1.8 million windfall.^[22]

Preston North End

Hugill signed a two-year contract with League One club Preston North End in June 2014, who paid Port Vale an undisclosed fee; manager Simon Grayson stated that "he's young, he's raring to go, hungry, he's a strong, powerful player, and he's got many attributes that will help us along the way this season and complement the squad well".^[23] He had an eventful match after coming on for Andrew Little as a 20th-minute substitute at Walsall on 13 September; he provided an assist for Joe Garner before being sent off for clashing with opposition defender Andy Butler, he also picked up an injury in the game that required surgery and a lengthy spell on the sidelines.^[24] He returned to fitness in February 2015, at which point he joined his former Vale manager Micky Adams at League Two side Tranmere Rovers for a one-month loan spell.^[25]

On 26 March 2015, loan deadline day, Hugill signed for bottom-placed League Two club Hartlepool United on loan until the end of the season; "Pools" boss Ronnie Moore said that "It just didn't work at Tranmere. But we've seen a lot of him and he'll go straight in and get goals for us, no doubt about it".^[26] He scored four goals in eight games for the club, including the winning goal against Exeter City at Victoria Park that secured Hartlepool's place in the English Football League.^[27] He was an unused substitute at Wembley in the play-off final as Preston won promotion into the Championship.^[28]

He signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract in October 2015.^[29] He ended the 2015–16 campaign with five goals in 32 games. He continued to impress in the 2016–17 season, and was given another new two-and-a-half-year contract in September 2016.^[30] The club rejected an offer of £1.5 million from Ipswich Town in January 2017.^[31] He ended the 2016–17 season with 13 goals in 47 appearances to end up as Preston's top-scorer.^[32] He started the 2017–18 season in good form and was linked with a number of clubs in the summer transfer window. He handed in a transfer request on 29 August 2017.^[33]

West Ham United

On 31 January 2018, Hugill completed a deadline day signing for Premier League club West Ham United in a reported £10 million transfer deal, becoming manager David Moyes' second signing at the London Stadium.^[34] However, he was restricted to a handful of brief cameos in the second half of the 2017–18 season, playing just 22 minutes in total.^[35][36]

Norwich City

After two loan spells and just three appearances, amounting to 22 minutes of playing time for West Ham, on 24 August 2020 he joined recently relegated Championship team Norwich City, for a fee "that could be worth £5m".^[44][45] He signed a three-year contract and was given the club's number nine shirt.^[46] He scored his first goal for the "Canaries", a late penalty, in a 2–1 win at Rotherham United on 17 October.^[47] A hamstring injury meant he was limited to just seven league starts in the 2020–21 season, though he still scored five goals from 34 appearances in all competitions as Norwich secured promotion back to the Premier League as Championship title winners.^[48] Manager Daniel Farke said that Hugill was "a key player for me... I don't just rate a player because of his minutes and his impact on the pitch. You don’t win a title or promotion just as 11 players. A leader in our dressing room and one of the main topics why we were promoted".^[49] However, Hugill failed to displace Teemu Pukki and Josh Sargent in the starting eleven and was sidelined under first Dean Smith and then David Wagner.^[50]

Rotherham United

On 25 January 2023, Hugill joined fellow Championship club Rotherham United on a three-and-a-half-year deal after being signed for an undisclosed fee.^[59][60] He failed to find the net in his first six games for the "Millers", but was praised by manager Matt Taylor for his all round contribution to the team.^[61] He did though challenge Hugill to work on becoming a bigger threat in set-pieces.^[62] He scored five goals in eighteen games in the second half of the 2022–23 season, scoring braces against former clubs Queens Park Rangers and West Bromwich Albion.^[63][64]