Wickham heading back to Wednesday on loan

Sheffield Wednesday look set to announce the return of Sunderland striker Connor Wickham to Hillsborough today.
Connor Wickham.Connor Wickham.
Connor Wickham.

The England Under-21 forward had looked to be heading to Championship rivals Burnley on loan, but South Yorkshire now appears to be his prefered destination.

Owls manager Dave Jones revealed to the Yorkshire Post yesterday he tried to bring Wickham back to Sheffield last week after enjoying a short spell with the Owls last season.

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The 20-year-old, who netted once in six games last season at Hillsborough, has been sidelined under new Black Cats manager Gus Poyet.

Despite having Hull’s Matty Fryatt on loan at Hillsborough, Jones is keen to bring in another striker as the Owls look to end their winless start to the campaign and climb off the bottom of the Championship.

Asked yesterday about Wickham, Jones said: “It’s not a non-starter.

“I won’t deny we have had a conversation with them (Sunderland) and it’s an ongoing thing.

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“He’s not the only one we have been looking at. If there’s a player available, regardless of what he is earning, we will try to get him and try to do a deal.

“I can guarantee there will always be other people that are out there who can probably do a better deal. Then it all comes down to preference.

“If you look at someone like Matty, he had other clubs but he chose here.

“You need as many strikers in the football club as you can possibly get. They are the ones who win you games.

“The more you have, the more options you have.”

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Another striker Wednesday wanted was Billy Sharp, who eventually moved on loan from Southampton to Reading, tomorrow’s visitors to Hillsborough.

Being a lifelong Sheffield United fan, many thought Sharp would have rejected playing for their cross-city rivals, but Jones yesterday revealed the Sheffield-born striker had wanted to come to Hillsborough only for his reported £18,000 weekly wage to scupper the deal.

“We were interested in Billy, it’s no hidden secret,” said Jones.

“The thing was financial. Billy wanted to come, but we couldn’t do it (a deal).

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“It was a financial decision, we couldn’t match what the others were offering.”

Jones said Wednesday wanted to keep Fryatt – who has a 24-hour recall clause – until Christmas, but the Tigers refused to extend the loan beyond an extra month.