Nathaniel Chalobah reveals Ike Ugbo conversation after joining Sheffield Wednesday from West Bromwich Albion
Sheffield Wednesday’s latest recruit Nathaniel Chalobah has admitted to speaking to former Owls loanee Ike Ugbo about life at Hillsborough.
Chalobah has joined Wednesday on a free transfer, becoming the club’s ninth signing of the summer window. As part of his research into the club, the midfielder spoke to his former Chelsea teammate Ugbo.
The Hillsborough faithful fell in love with Ugbo last season after he joined on loan from Troyes in the winter window. His talismanic displays proved key in the club’s survival effort and Wednesday have been linked with another swoop for the marksman.
Speaking to Wednesday’s official YouTube channel after putting pen to paper, Chalobah said: “Without giving away too much of the conversation, I’ve had a few references from some of the players here and the difference that he’s [Danny Rohl] made has been unbelievable. With that, it was really positive and I’m just looking forward to it.
"I spoke to Ike Ugbo, I know he’s not here, but he’s someone I’ve known from my time at Chelsea. I spoke to him and I think his reference was enough for me to be in the right frame of mind.”
Chalobah is also familiar with Wednesday defender Dominic Iorfa, having played with him at youth level for England. However, in order to not give anything away, Chalobah refrained from speaking to his former Three Lions teammate.
He said: “I have played with Dom Iorfa back in the England under-21s set-up, I didn’t message him because I didn’t want to give anything away or start asking questions or things like that.”
Conversations regarding a potential move to South Yorkshire had been held over the course of weeks, with Rohl keen to assemble his troops as early as possible.
Chalobah explained: "There were conversations going on over the last few weeks. I had a conversation with the manager as well, who showed a lot of interest. Of course, it’s a big club. The fans here, especially the fanbase, when I’ve played here a few times it’s always been electric.
"I thought, ‘why not?’. It will be exciting, to come in and join the squad and hopefully give a big push this season. He was just very positive, very positive about the way he works, about the squad that he’s got, about what the ambition of the club is.
"Without going into too much detail, that was enough for me to make a quick decision. I’m super excited. I’m ready for the challenge. I’m looking forward to meeting the fans and playing at such a historic stadium.”