There’s a lot of hype around the Sheffield Wednesday youth academy right now. Specifically around certain U21s players who are knocking on the door of the first-team.
Danny Rohl has proved already that he’s ready to take chances of some of Sheffield Wednesday’s younger players.
He’s done so with Bailey Cadamarteri, Pierce Charles, Gabriel Otegbayo, and Sean Fusire who all look set to play key roles for the first-team in the 2025/26 season.
There’s others who could feature in the coming months, too, like Junior Kamwa who scored on his Sheffield Wednesday U21s debut after recently signing a pro contract with the club.
He scored one of three first half goals for the young Owls as they beat Peterborough United 3-1, with Bruno Fernandes and Joey Phuthi the other scorers on the day.
Phuthi’s goal in particular was an impressive one.
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Joey Phuthi’s latest goal for Sheffield Wednesday U21s puts Anthony Musaba to shame
Phuthi, 19, made his Championship debut for the Owls last season, but is yet to feature this time round.
A full Zimbabwean international, it was revealed earlier in the season that Phuthi had to undergo surgery at Sheffield Wednesday, having made his comeback for the U21s in recent weeks.
In midweek against Peterborough, Phuthi picked up the ball out wide, dribbled towards goal beating several Posh players in doing so, before neatly finishing for the third goal on the day.
His movement and tendency to cut inside is very similar to that of first-teamer Anthony Musaba. But the Dutchman has so far lacked the kind of finishing instinct that Phuthi showed for his goal against Peterborough.
Barry Bannan’s Anthony Musaba verdict from last season makes for grim reading
So far this season, Musaba has scored once and assisted three times in 16 Championship outings, compared to seven goals and five assists in 43 league games last season.
Musaba was very raw last time but showed enough potential to give fans hope that he’d really shine this time round.
That’s not been the case though, and some comments from Owls skipper Barry Bannan on Musaba in 2023 highlight just how little he’s kicked on.
Bannan said of Musaba at Sheffield Wednesday last season: “You can pass the ball to Musaba and [Djeidi] Gassama and they’re going to get us a throw-in or a corner.
“We’ve not had that for a while and they’re exciting players… They can be frustrating as well but they just need to be helped along and they can be big assets for this club.”
Musaba is still a very ‘frustrating’ player, arguably more so this season with the 24-year-old lacking a regular end product of games.
Now with Phuthi back in action for the U21s and looking sharp, it could spell trouble for Musaba.