Sheffield Wednesday’s Fernando Forestieri could leave the club this summer.
According to reports in Portuguese editorial Jornal Record, Sheffield Wednesday are keen on signing Benfica’s attacking midfielder Joao Amaral, and he could be a potential replacement for Fernando Forestieri.
The Owls gambled in their bid to reach the Premier League over the past few seasons, spending big money in terms of fees and wages on players who are established at Championship level.
The problem in doing so is such players, when reaching their late twenties or thirties, have little re-sale value and a failure to earn promotion has seen the Owls stuck with several players on long contracts and big wages.
The likes of Steven Fletcher and Jordan Rhodes are two of half a dozen or so that Wednesday are seemingly stuck with and, in their battle with Financial Fair Play, they may be forced to shuffle the squad.
Jos Luhukay will no doubt want to bring in his own players and Benfica’s attacking midfielder Amaral represents a decent target, coming off the back of a season where he scored nine goals and grabbed a further two assists.
The 26-year-old is an attacking midfielder capable of playing just behind the centre-forward, in a wide forward role or as a free-roaming playmaker – a role already taken up by Forestieri.
The former Watford man is a fan favourite at Hillsborough and, since arriving at the club, he has been one of the best players outside the top-flight – scoring 32 goals and providing 11 assists in 71 league starts.
Forestieri is arguably the only player on Wednesday’s books the club are capable of selling for a decent fee, and recent reports in the Sheffield Star claim clubs such as Stoke City are keeping tabs on him this summer.
If Luhukay wants to bolster his squad with further attacking additions such as Amara, and he must raise funds to do so, unfortunately for Owls fans Forestieri is the obvious choice to make way.
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