Sheffield Wednesday and their recruitment team are proving to be quite shrewd operators in the transfer market.
Last year, Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri gifted Danny Rohl a new head of recruitment in Kevin Beadell.
He’d worked with both Arsenal and Manchester United in the past, and some of the Owls’ January transfer links highlighted the shift in focus.
Sheffield Wednesday under Beadell branched out, scoring European and US markets for new players.
In the end, the Owls’ January loan signings of James Beadle, Ike Ugbo, Ian Poveda arguably saved the club from relegation last season.
Wednesday then went about a really positive summer transfer window going into this season, signing nine new players including some exciting, younger names from both the UK and abroad.
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There’s been a lot of names who Sheffield Wednesday have been linked with, some more ambitious than others, who never actually moved to Hillsborough.
And a lot of them have gone on to be prolific in 2024, with one being Duncan McGuire; Sheffield Wednesday tried to sign McGuire on deadline day in January and were linked again in the summer.
In the 2024 MLS season, he’s scored 10 goals in 26 games. But he’s not proving to be as prolific as Daniel Gazdag.
Sheffield Wednesday were linked with Gazdag in the last January transfer window as well. But the Hungarian international remains with Philadelphia Union in the MLS where he’s scored a staggering 17 goals; as many as Lionel Messi at Inter Miami in 2024.
Elsewhere, another striker who Rohl and Beadell identified this summer is Brighton’s Mark O’Mahony.
At one point, it was reported that Sheffield Wednesday were optimistic of signing O’Mahony on loan, though he’s since joined Portsmouth.
In four Championship appearances for Pompey this season, the Ireland U21 international has scored twice.
Then there’s Michael Baidoo. Baidoo was linked with Sheffield Wednesday during the summer, with Plymouth Argyle also entering the race to sign the IF Elfsborg midfielder, who made his Ghana debut during this month’s international break.
From the centre of midfield, Baidoo has scored 10 and assisted five more in 25 Allsvenskan appearances in this 2024 campaign.
The above numbers prove that Sheffield Wednesday under Rohl and Beadell are identifying the right kinds of players, which should be taken as a huge positive, even if they’re not signing.
Sheffield Wednesday’s January transfer plans
Ahead of January, there’s been little reports of what signings may come. It’s been more about who might leave.
There’s fears that Southampton could recall Shea Charles, whilst Callum Paterson has been backed to leave Sheffield Wednesday ahead of his contract expiry at the end of this season.
But Rohl says he has plans for the January transfer window already in place, and plans for the 2025 summer transfer window as well.
He said last month: “Even the next window, it’s a little bit far away, but even now I have clear idea in my mind what we have to do in the next two windows.”