Sheffield Wednesday face a race against time to secure the striker that manager Garry Monk so desperately desires.
The Owls’ need for a new forward has been ramped up tenfold in recent weeks after suffering their most devastating blow of the season – losing top goalscorer Steven Fletcher to injury.
Monk will be without the 32-year-old’s services for the next eight to ten weeks, and he’s made it well known that he would like to find a replacement as soon as possible.
Wednesday have been linked to a number of names this month, some of which include Eddie Nketiah, who they appear to have lost out on, Lyle Taylor and Jonson Clarke-Harris, but neither of the latter two are realistic as Monk expects to operate the loan market only.That’s rather damning on the backup options of Jordan Rhodes, Sam Winnall and Atdhe Nuhiu as their manager clearly doesn’t fancy any of them to step up to the plate in his absence.
Which is the first signal towards the potential problems facing the south Yorkshiremen this month.
One player heavily linked to the club is Crystal Palace’s Connor Wickham, but according to The Sun’s Alan Nixon, there’s been a bit of a hold up over the deal.
He then went on to say that if the right offer is there, then the Owls would clinch him – suggesting that it’s on Dejphon Chansiri and the Wednesday hierarchy to pull their finger out.
Nixon also added that there’s probably not another bargain out there, so they shouldn’t sway away from making this move.
If those at the club are unable to stump up the right wages for the injury-prone Wickham, then it only goes to show that trying to sign a suitable striker to fill Fletcher’s void is merely a pipedream.
That’s reinforced by the fact that Wednesday have to operate the loan market for additions this month.
They are still rueing the finances involved with players such as club-record signing Jordan Rhodes and Fernando Forestieri, which are both unlikely to be resolved until the summer.
Call yourself a Premier League expert? How much did each of these big-money January signings cost?
Monk may find the next two weeks stressful, and these comments from Nixon hardly provide much encouragement; expect such reports to draw out until the frantic scenes on deadline day.
And in other news, one of Carlos Carvalhal’s worst signings is sure to head for the exit door if Wednesday can indeed make an addition this month…