The process of scouring the free agent market will restart once again at Sheffield Wednesday.
The Owls were hammered 4-0 at Swansea City on Sunday in what was their ninth defeat on the spin in all competitions – with 15 and a half hours of football having been played since they last scored a goal. Wednesday were further rocked in the hours leading into the trip to South Wales, with Yan Valery’s switch to Swiss side Young Boys coming to fruition and a personal issue leaving them without influential midfielder Svante Ingelsson.
The double absence left a threadbare squad further decimated for an afternoon that saw a system shift run through by a Swans side that were able to launch 22 shots on goal to Wednesday’s three.
“Of course it is a big blow, to lose one of your best players,” Owls boss Henrik Pedersen told The Star when asked of the impact of losing Valery. “It happened very quickly to come from nothing and of course it is tough to lose a top player in the team. To lose Svante and Yan before the last training is tough. But then two other players get their chance, we have to keep on working with the players we have. This is the situation now.”
The departure of Valery comes partly on the player’s request and frees-up a slot in the squad for Wednesday to fill. The timing of the move – the Swiss transfer window closes later than that of the UK – means any potential move in the loan market is impossible. But amid recruitment restrictions, Pedersen confirmed the Owls would be able to re-enter the free agent list for a potential pick-up.
Valery is understood to have been one of the club’s bigger earners. As reported by The Star ahead of Pedersen’s confirmation, it is understood that Young Boys will be paying the full complement of his earnings, meaning in theory there is money available – all deals are subject to EFL ratification and are dependent on the financial information Wednesday are able to provide.
“We can bring a free transfer player in now, so we will start to look,” Pedersen said. “We also know this is a difficult market to find players now. We are doing all that we can. Now the game is done, we will put a lot of energy into finding a player who can come in and help us.
Asked what position or profile of player he’d like to bring in, he continued: “Tomorrow we have a meeting to get a fresh update on all our injuries, to see when Dominic is back, Sean, all the different players. Then we will see when each guy is back and we can see then to go in a more offensive direction or either way. We will make a final decision tomorrow and in this direction we will go.”
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