Recent reports have claimed that Sheffield Wednesday are ready to spend £30,000-a-week on signing the right striker in January.
The January transfer window is less than a month away, and for Sheffield Wednesday, it’s a vital month.
It’s difficult to think of a transfer window with more riding on it than this one for the Owls, who are rooted to the foot of the Championship table and facing an immediate return to League One.
There’s a new sense of optimism in their quest for survival after a draw vs Leicester City followed up by a win over Blackburn Rovers last week, but relegation still remains the likelihood.
And in a bid to save this season, Owls owner Dejphon Chansiri is reported ready to spend up to £30,000-a-week on a loan striker in January, as per Alan Nixon.
Ron Staton wary of Nixon’s Sheffield Wednesday claim
Having his say on the story, reporter Rob Staton said on the most recent episode of Football Heaven:
“So a few weeks ago, the chairman was saying he might not be able to pay everyone at the club, and now £30,000-a-week for 18 weeks, it’s hundreds of thousands of pounds to get somebody in. I don’t know who’s coming in… I think with £30,000-a-week, you’re kind of wondering, what exactly does that get you? Because if you’re thinking, ‘go and get a top, top, goal-scorer’, are they going to come for £30,000? Or are we just going to end up paying for an £8,000-a-week striker?”
He continued:
“Danny Rohl should be backed, but my fear is that this is classic Sheffield Wednesday, to just go and try and sign one player, for £30,000-a-week, and think that one player will change everything, I don’t think is the right thing to do. I think there needs to be a longer-term view of this. Speak to Danny Rohl, move some players on who are not going to be a part of this moving forward, bring in some players who are going to be involved in this moving forward, whatever division Sheffield Wednesday are in, who can play Danny Rohl’s style, and maybe do it in the right way… Where they’re going to get the money from, I don’t know. But this just… it doesn’t smell right.”
The January transfer window for Wednesday
It’s certainly a pivotal month for Sheffield Wednesday, but what resources the club might have for the window remains to be seen.
Nixon’s story should be taken with a pinch of salt given Chansiri’s recent claims about the club’s difficult financial situation, as Staton alludes to.
But, also like Staton suggests, it would be very ‘Sheffield Wednesday’ and very ‘Chansiri’ for the Owls owner to say what he has about the club’s financial situation, and then go and spend a sizeable amount on a single player in January.
No doubt, Rohl needs goals in his side. Sheffield Wednesday have scored just 12 in the Championship and four of those have come in their last two outings.
They have a new star on their hands in Bailey Cadamarteri but he alone can’t save this season, so a new striker in January seems like a necessity.
But that’s just one of a few necessities.
There also needs to be some kind of planning towards next season; new deals for the likes of Di’Shon Bernard and others out of contract next summer, as well as a new deal for Cadamarteri which seems to be in the pipelines already.
Rohl needs to add quality in a few positions in January and this apparent £30,000-a-week gap in the wage budget could be spread across a few players, or maybe two at most.
Careful planning is needed and if Chansiri and co can do that, and give Rohl and his players a fighting chance this season, then it’ll certainly ease what is huge pressure on the Owls owner to sell up.