Sheffield Wednesday loaned striker Sam Winnall out to Championship rivals Derby County in the summer transfer window.
Injury has restricted Sam Winnall to just six Championship starts for Derby County but the striker has still managed to leave a lasting memory in his loan spell at Pride Park.
Winnall won Derby’s Goal of the Season award at the end of season gongs on Tuesday night for that memorable effort against Ipswich Town back in December.
And perhaps it is ability like that which explains why Sheffield Wednesday fans have been bombarding him on Twitter asking if he will return to his parent club this summer when his year-long loan at Derby comes to an end.
Or perhaps it is something to do with the fact that Wednesday have found goals rather hard to come by since the turn of the year and, with one game to go in a disappointing league season, have hit the net just 54 times in 45 matches.
Winnall might have scored a grand total of four goals in 16 Championship games for Wednesday between arriving in January 2017 from local rivals Barnsley and leaving on loan for Derby a few months later, but the fans want him back.
The chances of that happening, however, remain to be seen.
“When we brought Sam into the building as a loan player for the season, our hope was that if he did well we might be able to turn that into a permanent move,” Derby manager Gary Rowett said of the striker, who has been out since February with a cruciate ligament injury.
Winnall is happy at Derby – but will he stay there?
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