Crystal Palace’s Premier League benchwarmer could reportedly be returning to the Championship with Garry Monk’s Sheffield Wednesday.
Sheffield Wednesday are interested in signing Crystal Palace benchwarmer Connor Wickham, according to The Sun (9 January, page 55).
If a testing festive period proved anything at Hillsborough, it’s that The Owls need reinforcements if they are to stand a chance of joining their Steel City neighbours in the Premier League next season.
Three successive defeats have seen Garry Monk’s side drift away from the chasing pack and their over-reliance on star striker Steven Fletcher is a problem that must be solved before it’s too late. The veteran Scot is in the form of his life under Monk but no other player in Sheffield Wednesday’s squad have managed more than three league goals.
And with funds tight amid fears of Financial Fair Play sanctions, the Yorkshire giants will have to box clever as they eye new additions.
Wickham, however, is available on loan this month – although interested parties will have to pay £25,000-a-week to sign the former Sunderland and Ipswich Town star on a temporary basis.
Strong and physical, Wickham is exactly the sort of striker who tends to thrive under Monk, a coach who has got the best out of fellow targetmen like Wilfried Bony, Lukas Jutciewicz, Chris Wood and Fletcher himself during previous spells at Swansea, Birmingham City and Leeds United.
If he can stay fit, there is no reason to believe that a man who joined Crystal Palace for £8 million cannot get back to his barnstorming best at Hillsborough. That’s a big ‘if’ though, given that Wickham has started just four league games since the start of the 2016/17 season.
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