Manager admits he was ‘close’ to signing ‘very talented’ Leeds ace in January

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Tony Mowbray admits Birmingham City were ‘very close’ to signing Ian Carlo Poveda before the Leeds United winger joined Championship rivals Sheffield Wednesday in a deadline day loan deal instead. 

The Leeds-owned speedster certainly didn’t take any pity on his former boss either, Mowbray’s Birmingham going head-to-head with Ian Carlo Poveda’s new employers less than a fortnight after the window closed. 

Poveda needed only 15 minutes to show Mowbray what he’s missing, the one-time Blackburn Rovers loanee coming back to haunt the new Blues boss as he jinked and tricked his way down the wing before setting up Ike Ugbo to open the scoring at Hillsborough. 

Leeds loanee Ian Poveda shines for Sheffield Wednesday

“Poveda is a good player, I would have to say,” Mowbray told the BBC at full-time, Ugbo doubling his tally and closing the gap between Wednesday and Birmingham to just six points.  

“We were very close to signing Poveda in this window just gone. He’s a player I had at Blackburn Rovers and is a very talented young boy.”

Poveda, capped twice by the Colombian national team despite representing England at youth level, made the short trip from Leeds to Sheffield with a point to prove having struggled to force his way into Daniel Farke’s starting XI back home at Elland Road. 

That, however, is less a criticism of Poveda’s own talents and more a reflection of the outstanding options Farke already had at his disposal out wide. In Daniel James, Willy Gnonto and the scintillating Crysencio Summerville, Leeds can boast arguably the most gifted set for wingers and wide forwards in the whole of the EFL. 

‘On fire’

“When I come back to the first meeting with him and his eyes, when he speaks about football he is passionate,” Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl says of Poveda, who shone on his first start for The Owls.  

“We spoke about what I can do for him and in which position I want to have him because I see his strength.

“He was immediately open-minded and was on fire to come here. I think this is not easy. For some players, it is not the easiest decision to come to the bottom of the league instead of playing with Leeds for promotion. But he was immediately convinced about this and gave me a really good feeling.”