The new first-team coach at Sheffield Wednesday may be key to the Owls’ deal for Izzy Brown.
Yorkshire Live reports that Brown is due to undergo a medical at Wednesday on Thursday ahead of a season-long loan move from Chelsea, after Garry Monk’s side saw off competition from several Championship rivals including Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest.
The attacking midfielder’s arrival would come little more than a week after the Owls added Andrew Hughes to their backroom team.
And the pair are already known to one another, with Brown having spent six months on loan at Huddersfield while Hughes held the same role there.
The 23-year-old scored five goals and set up one in that time, helping the Terriers to promotion at Wednesday’s expense.
And speaking in March last year, when Brown was at Leeds United, Hughes tod the Talking Shutt podcast: “Izzy Brown at Huddersfield was one of the best players who helped get promotion.
“Now, Izzy’s a proper player. Unbelievably talented. He’s a man, he’s strong.”
At the time, Brown was struggling to get into the Leeds 11, as he recovered from the cruciate knee ligament injury he suffered while on loan at Brighton and Hove Albion.
But despite a difficult two years, the Peterborough native is back on his feet after a productive spell at Luton Town, for whom he scored once and set up seven goals in 25 Championship outings last season.