Danny Rohl will be glad that a deal was not pursued to sign one of Sheffield Wednesday’s top targets this summer.
Sheffield Wednesday’s start to the season has been somewhat disappointing, in stark contrast to the optimism that was in-and-around S6 prior to the 2024/25 Championship campaign kicking off, with the Owls’ several signings looking to bolster Danny Rohl’s side.
The business made at the time seemed very shrewd from Sheffield Wednesday, who looked to have improved their options in every position and signed a good blend of young talent with Premier League and Championship experience.
At this moment, some may be examining their summer business and whether it was successful and who they should have gone for instead.
One former target in fact was hotly pursued by Rohl’s side this summer, however a severe lack of playing time as a result of fitness concerns have shown that it was a positive move for Sheffield Wednesday to no longer pursue a deal for the attacker.
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Sheffield Wednesday dodged Ian Poveda bullet this summer
The Owls were massively interested in looking to sign free agent Ian Poveda, who spent half of the 2023/24 Championship campaign on loan at Sheffield Wednesday, where his brief and positive spell was cut short as a result of an injury sustained in the away win at Queens Park Rangers.
The troubling injury saw the Colombian international miss the rest of the season, and as a result, that was his final moment of action in a Wednesday kit.
Rohl had made it clear that he was exploring the possibilities of a return for the tricky winger, who did most certainly show his ‘quality’ when fully fit last season, however Sunderland managed to get ahead of them in the race for the attacker and signed him.
Ever since his arrival on Wearside, he has played just 17 minutes of action in the league as a result of his ongoing injury troubles.
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Sheffield Wednesday were prioritising the wrong transfer with Ian Poveda
In hindsight, it is clear that Sheffield Wednesday’s wide options are more than solid at this point, with Anthony Musaba, Djeidi Gassama and new signing Olaf Kobacki making up some of the options available to Rohl this season.
Whilst a deal wasn’t eventually reached for Poveda, which could have potentially bloated wide options for Rohl, it could be argued that this took away from the necessity of bringing in competent strikers, which at this point looks to be the Owls’ achilles heel, with just six goals scored in as many games.
Poveda would not have provided that necessary goalscoring output needed for Rohl’s side, so there will be no one thinking in hindsight that he will have been the answer to Sheffield Wednesday’s troubles, but there comes a point where it needs to be considered as to whether that time used in gunning for Poveda could have been used elsewhere.