Sheffield Wednesday are on the hunt for a new centre-back this summer.
The Owls’ backline drastically tightened up in the second half of the 2023/24 campaign, conceding only four goals in their final six matches.
However, Sheffield Wednesday’s defence looks to be far from the quality and depth needed to push forward up the Championship table.
Di’Shon Bernard and Dominic Iorfa are likely to start against Plymouth, but there are question marks over their remaining options.
As they wait to pick up a new centre-back, some fans will wish they were still able to rely on Mark McGuinness.
The former Arsenal academy product joined the Owls on loan in 2022 and went onto win back-to-back player of the month awards, picking up eleven clean sheets in only 17 league appearances.
He became a fan favourite at Hillsborough, with even striker Michael Smith labelling him a ‘Rolls Royce’ defender.
Cardiff City were quick to react to his form though and recalled him in January, however Darren Moore told Yorkshire Live that he would ‘look’ into signing McGuinness permanently.
The Bluebirds refused to sell up and he went onto sign a new four-year contract, before making 30 appearances in the Championship last term.
Ex-Sheffield Wednesday fan favourite now worth eight figures
It is unclear how much Wednesday would have had to pay to lure McGuinness back to the club, though Transfermarkt claims he was worth between £2-£3m.
It almost seems like a bargain now, with reports claiming Cardiff are now demanding over three times the amount.
According to Wales Online, Luton Town are keen on snapping McGuinness up. However, the Welsh outfit will demand over £10m to part ways with the 23-year-old.
Cardiff believe they are in a strong position though and don’t need to sell, while he would become their record departure if he was to leave.
Could the Owls have ever afford Mark McGuinness?
McGuinness was an excellent player for Wednesday and would have made their promotion to the Championship a lot more comfortable if he had stayed.
However, given that they were in League One when he returned to Cardiff, it was always going to be an incredibly big ask.
He was already worth seven figures at the time too, so even if he was available in the summer, the likelihood of Dejphon Chansiri coughing up £3m to bring him back to Yorkshire seemed highly unlikely.
Wednesday missed out on a player with a lot of potential last year but he wasn’t the first and certainly won’t be the last.
The positive is that Danny Rohl now has the pull to bring players of McGuinness’ quality to the club and fans will believe in him if he says he is going to bring a new centre-back that can really strengthen the backline over the next few weeks.