Sheffield Wednesday are being linked with a move for the highly-rated Manchester City defender.
Tosin Adarabioyo would be far from your typical Sheffield Wednesday recruit.
While Carlos Carvalhal is no stranger to utilising the domestic loan market, he has exclusively favoured experienced recruits throughout his two-year tenure as Owls head coach.
But after back-to-back promotion near-misses, could Wednesday benefit from a change in their approach to recruitment? HITC Sport has weighed up the pros and cons of signings such as Adarabioyo’s.
PRO – They’re cheaper
Centre-backs have become expensive commodities, as Carlos explained again earlier this week, and borrowing from clubs who are actively seeking to loan theirs out – as Manchester City are said to be – could help to circumvent the spending of hefty fees.
CON – They’d be learning on the job
As a former Hillsborough boss, Gary Megson, once said, after he was offered an unnamed 18-year-old player on loan: “All that would be doing is bringing on a young player for that club while he learns his trade through the mistakes he is probably going to make for Sheffield Wednesday.” If they are serious about the top two, then the Owls will perhaps need players who are ready to go immediately.
PRO – It worked for others
Wednesday’s 2017 play-off conquerors Huddersfield relied heavily on a trio Premier League youngsters – Danny Ward, Kasey Palmer and Izzy Brown – to get them into the top flight, while another one, Tammy Abraham, scored 26 goals for Bristol City, who would have undoubtedly gone down without him.
CON – You’d (probably) have to play them regardless
Adarabioyo could have a Connor Wickham-like impact at Hillsborough, or he could be another John Bostock. But City, surely, aren’t going to loan him to a club that isn’t going to play him. Any move would therefore be a gamble on Wednesday’s part, and could have a negative affect on squad morale if he’s picked above others out of obligation alone.
Former Owls loanee Connor Wickham
PRO – It’d freshen up an ageing squad
The Owls’ group was among the Championship’s oldest last term, while their only summer recruit, George Boyd, is fast approaching his 32nd birthday. A few flashes of youth perhaps wouldn’t go amiss, then, while Adarabioyo, certainly, would add the pace that so many Wednesdayites seem to be craving.
CON – That mid-season uncertainty
Should the 19-year-old – or any other loan recruit for that matter – impress for the Owls, there’s a danger he could be recalled by his parent club when January comes around, leaving Carvalhal in the same position he’s in now – only in a notoriously more difficult market.
Let us know what you think – should Sheffield Wednesday consider loan signings like Adarabioyo?
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