Joao’s loan from Sheffield Wednesday to Blackburn Rovers came to an end on Sunday.
Lucas Joao’s loan spell at Blackburn Rovers is over, and with Gary Hooper injured again many Sheffield Wednesday fans are wondering if the Portuguese striker could help the Owls in their upcoming play-off campaign.
Joao scored three goals in 494 minutes for Tony Mowbray’s team – giving him the second best strike rate of any Wednesday striker since the January transfer deadline, after Steven Fletcher.
| Goals | Minutes played | Minutes per goal | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steven Fletcher | 4 | 538 | 134.5 |
| Lucas João | 3 | 494 | 164.67 |
| Fernando Forestieri | 4 | 722 | 180.5 |
| Sam Winnall | 3 | 689 | 229.67 |
| Gary Hooper | 1 | 396 | 396 |
| Jordan Rhodes | 3 | 1,292 | 430.67 |
Nevertheless, Carlos Carvalhal’s side will have to do without Joao until the start of next season, due to EFL rule 53.1.4, which states: “A Player whose Standard Loan expires (or terminates) at the end of the Season of the Transferee Club but prior to the completion of the League Matches of his Transferor Club (where it is a Member Club) will not be eligible to play in any remaining League Matches for the Transferor Club in that Season”.
So there you go – case closed. Or not…
What about Jeremy Helan – didn’t he come on at Wembley?
Correct. Helan actually appeared in two of Wednesday’s three play-off fixtures last season, having spent two months on loan to Championship rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers.
However, as that was classed as an emergency loan deal – the type of which was abolished at the start of this season – the Owls were well within their rights to field the now-retired Frenchman.
No Joao – How should Wednesday replace Hooper against Huddersfield Town?
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