Fletcher has struggled to make a positive impression since leaving Sunderland for Sheffield Wednesday last summer.
Steven Fletcher celebrates a goal for Sunderland
A player with 12 years’ top-flight experience, who had cost more than £23 million in combined transfer fees and was available for nothing after his release by Sunderland – Sheffield Wednesday’s capture of Steven Fletcher seemed a no-brainer.
Fletcher spent the six months prior to his arrival at Hillsborough last summer on loan to Marseille, where his displays were endorsed by then strike partner Michy Batshuayi – a player who later moved to Chelsea in a £33 million deal.
The Scotland international, it was hoped, would prove the final piece of the puzzle required to end the Owls’ 17-year exile from England’s Premier League – an upgrade on the much-loved but technically-limited Atdhe Nuhiu.
But eight months on, Fletcher finds himself third in the pecking order and could fall further out of the loop once Gary Hooper returns.
So underwhelming was the 29-year-old’s first half-season in Sheffield (six goals scored and only four from open play) that Wednesday signed two new strikers in January – one of whom, Jordan Rhodes, will become a club-record capture when his loan deal turns permanent in July.
And Fletcher’s introduction in place of the other, Sam Winnall, during Tuesday’s draw at home to Burton Albion, appeared to baffle to Owls faithful, many of whom questioned the logic of the decision on social media afterwards.
Sheffield Wednesday’s Sam Winnall reacts to a missed chance
In fairness to Fletcher, it has not been the best of individual campaigns for any Wednesday player, with Carlos Carvalhal’s side still coming to terms with being one of the Championship’s big fish.
His first few months were hindered by a string of niggles, as well as the birth of his child, while it could also be argued he’s been the victim of mistaken identity, with several of his teammates seeing him as some sort of centre-forward battering ram he clearly isn’t.
Wednesday, though, have already shown through their January business that they aren’t prepared stand still and wait for Fletcher to eventually come good. And were it any other player, the Owls would perhaps hold their hands up and look to move him on in the summer – regardless of which division they are in.
The problem is that having tied Fletcher to a four-year-deal which reportedly made him the club’s highest-paid player (possibly ever), who is going to take him?
Steven Fletcher holds his head in his hands
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