Sheffield Wednesday have made nine signings so far but have kept their spending to a minimal.
Reports emerged claiming that Sheffield Wednesday had coughed up £1.68 million to sign Yan Valery last month, while Transfermarkt states that they paid £500,000 for Olaf Kobacki.
However, their remaining seven signings all arrived on free transfers or loan deals, allowing them to bring in plenty of quality for absolutely nothing.
Their transfers haven’t ended there though and they may be forced to open their wallet further if they are to land one of their key targets.
It was reported yesterday that Ugbo has ‘made it clear’ that he wants to return to Yorkshire, but a deal is ‘not close’ and they still face heavy competition from Stoke, QPR and Birmingham.
Wednesday are likely to have to pay seven figures to bring the striker back to Hillsborough, but Carlton Palmer doesn’t believe the club will want to pay more than what Troyes paid for him in 2022.
Sheffield Wednesday may not be able to afford Ike Ugbo’s price tag
Speaking to Football League World, he said: “Sheffield Wednesday are receiving some fantastic news that Ike Ugbo prefers a move back to the club.
“He was a revelation when he joined on loan in January, he was a very big part of the team’s survival in the Championship last season, and Danny Rohl is keen to bring him back to the football club, but they are nowhere near close to a deal.
“It’s difficult to say what he’s worth, Troyes paid £2.5 million for him in 2022-23, so they’ll be looking to recoup the best part of that back for the player.
“It depends whether the likes of Stoke, QPR and Birmingham can pay that type of money.
“I can’t imagine the Owls wanting to pay more than £2.5 million for the player, we’ll have to wait and see, but that may give the opportunity to sides like Stoke and QPR.
“QPR are about to sell Sinclair Armstrong, so they will have immediate funds to bring in the player.
“But the good news is that as long as Ugbo sticks to what he’s said about preferring a move to Sheffield Wednesday, then at some point, a deal will have to be agreed for him.
“Fingers crossed that Sheffield Wednesday can get this one over the line.
“A lot of business has been done by Danny Rohl, nine signings already this summer, so we’re looking forward to a very, very good season for Sheffield Wednesday next season.”
Do the Owls need to sell before they can buy?
Wednesday have already spent over £2m on Valery and Kobacki, while they are yet to make a single penny from departures.
It is very clear that the club are desperate to bring Ugbo back and he could well be the final piece of the jigsaw that could catapult them further up the table.
While he may be costly, he could make a real difference to their chances next season and they would likely have to pay a lot of money to sign any other decent goal-scorer anyway.
However, Wednesday are yet to sell a single player and will perhaps need to earn themselves some cash before splashing it any further.
Time is ticking though, and they are beginning to face a dilemma as to whether they have time to wait to sell players or take the risk of spending the money on Ugbo now.