Sheffield Wednesday identified their share of transfer targets in the summer, eventually bringing in 11 new players.
The Owls’ summer transfer business has certainly made them a better team this time round.
Danny Rohl’s Sheffield Wednesday side currently it in 15th place of the Championship table compared to being in the bottom three at this stage last season.
Still, despite the arrival of 11 new players in the summer, and the overall improvements, there’s a sense that the Owls are still underachieving in the league.
Rohl is unhappy with the points dropped by Sheffield Wednesday this season, citing the defeat against Luton Town and the draw against QPR earlier in the season, wherein both the Owls were leading.
There’s also a lot of disappointment and anger towards summer signing Ike Ugbo who in 14 Championship appearances this season is yet to score.
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Sheffield Wednesday’s Ike Ugbo alternative now shining
Sheffield Wednesday paid £2.5million to sign Ugbo during the summer, and it was a signing that really excited fans after Ugbo had scored seven in 18 Championship outings last time round.
He’s devoid of confidence right now, though. What’s worse is that a certain Wednesday summer target in Mika Biereth is shining in Austria, playing Champions League football against the likes of Borussia Dortmund.
In a recent interview with The Athletic, former Arsenal man Biereth revealed that the lure of Champions League football was a factor behind his move to Sturm Graz in the summer.
He said: “I felt there was unfinished business, so I decided to come back [to Sturm Graz where he spent time on loan last season].
“The team won the double and it’s about trying to do it again, which is probably more difficult than winning it the first time.
“A big factor was how I felt in the club, around the building, with the manager, the sporting director and the players. I really felt like a part of something.
“Then, the opportunity to be the starting striker for a Champions League club at 21 was one I couldn’t turn down.”
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Sheffield Wednesday will never have European football under Dejphon Chansiri
Sheffield Wednesday wanted to sign Biereth on loan last January, but lost out to Graz who then signed him permanently during the summer for a reported fee of £4million, despite renewed interest from the Owls.
The Owls went the way of Ugbo. But Biereth’s eight goals in 13 Austrian Bundesliga games this season suggests that the 21-year-old was by far the better option, even if he was slightly out of the Owls’ price range.
And Biereth’s comments about the pull of Champions League football highlights another disadvantage that Wednesday have in the transfer market as a whole.
Often struggling in the Championship, often having off-field issues and never showing any major ambition makes Sheffield Wednesday a much less attractive team for players like Biereth.
Many fans fear that until Chansiri leaves, and a new owner brings more stability and wealth to the club, then Wednesday will never reach the heights of 30 years ago, or the heights of European football in years to come.