The Crystal Palace striker Connor Wickham believes he’ll head back to Selhurst Park at the end of his Sheffield Wednesday loan spell.
The 26-year-old rejoined the Owls on the final day of the January transfer window, having enjoyed two spells at Hillsborough earlier in his career.
The intervening six years have seen Wickham player fewer games of football than he’d hoped, owing to injury.
And fitness, he says, is the primary reason for his latest move.
Asked whether a permanent move could be on the cards this summer, when he is due to enter the final year of his Crystal Palace contract, Wickham told BBC Radio Sheffield: “It depends on the situation at the time and what’s on the table.
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“I’ve still got a year left at Palace. I think the intention is to go back to Palace. The chairman (Steve Parish) has made that quite clear to me.
“So as far as I’m concerned from Crystal Palace’s side this is for me to get the fitness, the development and whatever happens after that is for the future to hold. We’ll see what happens.”
The Crystal Palace chairman Parish gestures. (Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media)
Wickham appeared in five of Crystal Palace’s last seven games while he was still at the club, but only once as a starter.
And a move to Sheffield Wednesday, who have struggled up front in the absence of Steven Fletcher, should see his game time increase.
Wickham was first linked with a return to Hillsborough at the start of last month, long after rival suitors such as Watford, Nottingham Forest and Bristol City were said to be keen.
But the former Sunderland player, who has Wednesday fans within his family, says the Owls boss Garry Monk was one of the first to register an interest, which played a part in his move.
