Recent reports have suggested that Sheffield Wednesday are looking to cut down on expenses and reduce the wage bill for next season.
The Owls have a fairly big squad and might look at the possibility of offloading a couple of players. If sufficient funds are gathered, manager Jos Luhukay may even be able to bring in a few players of his choice. But who are the fringe players in the current team that deserve to go?
Steven Fletcher
Fletcher is a footballer who doesn’t need a special introduction. The Scotland international has been at Wednesday since 2016 and has scored 14 goals in 51 matches.
In the earlier stages of his career, he turned up for Hibernian, before moving to England. There he defended the colours of Burnley, Wolves and Sunderland, before going out on loan to French giants Marseille.
His performance at Hillsborough hasn’t been bad, although stats show that he scores once in every 3 matches. That’s not a great return from a person you’d consider as one of your main strikers. Last season, he was unlucky with injuries and missed the second part of the campaign.
However, before getting injured, Fletcher had played 20 games and scored 3 goals. He’s already 31 and is one of the top earners but hasn’t convinced anyone he’s ready to step up and become a true leader of the team.
Marco Matias
Another striker who hasn’t proved he’s worthy of the Sheffield Wednesday crest. The 29-year-old Portuguese forward joined the Owls in 2015, but since then, he has appeared in 38 games (16 in the starting XI) and scored just 4 goals.
Inconsistent is the least you can call him and his contribution to the team. Funnily enough, in the 38 matches he’s played, he has been sent off twice. Being a striker, you wouldn’t expect to get two red cards in this short period of time.
He’s also had problems with injuries but it generally seems it’ll be better for the club and the player to part ways.
Almen Abdi
A couple of years ago, when Almen Abdi signed for Sheffield Wednesday, fans were delirious. The Swiss international had made a name for himself in England with Watford, where he performed miracles both in the Championship and in the Premier League.
He had also played very well for Zurich and Udinese earlier in his career. Where it all went wrong for him at Wednesday is hard to say.
The fact is, though, for the past two years, he’s played 23 matches and scored just one goal. Maybe his time at Hillsborough has come to an end and he should look for a new challenge.
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