Gabriele Cioffi was the driving force behind Bez Lubala’s summer move to Crawley Town.
The Italian had coached Lubala at Birmingham City, whose contract offer the winger rejected to join Cioffi in Crawley.
But rumours linking Lubala with a January transfer could now resurface after the League Two side’s decision to part with Cioffi, their manager, on Monday.
Sheffield Wednesday are one of the clubs being credited with interest in the Congo-born 21-year-old.
And Teamtalk reported last month that the Owls were ‘leading the chase’ for his signature this winter.
The Wednesday manager Garry Monk, who gave Lubala his professional debut at Birmingham, later played down the rumour, telling the Owls’ official Facebook page: “It’s the season of agents putting their players out there and trying to force them to get… the circus, I call it.
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“I haven’t spoken to the club about any specific players. I’ve only had general talks about what we might be looking for in terms of positions or whatever, but in terms of details, no, nothing at the moment.”
And Lubala followed suit, telling Crawley’s ‘A Bit of Bully’ podcast: “If you’re doing well, people are going to talk, you’re going to get rumours and stuff.
“My main focus is just focusing on what we’ve got at Crawley, what we’re trying to do – the objective.
“And I’m not really getting carried away with any of that stuff at the moment.”
But with Cioffi, who Lubala called a ‘friend and mentor’ in a heartfelt tweet on Monday, no longer at the helm, the nine-goal player’s thoughts could quickly turn elsewhere.
Whether or not that is to Sheffield Wednesday remains to be seen.