"Baffling" - Claim made on "curious case" of Sheffield Wednesday star Ike Ugbo | OneFootball

FLW's Sheffield Wednesday fan pundit discussed the curious case of Ike Ugbo, who has struggled infront of goal since signing for the club permanently

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Ike Ugbo has been slammed for enduring a disappointing season at Sheffield Wednesday, with the striker still yet to score from 29 appearances in the 2024/25 Championship campaign.

Ugbo first arrived at Hillsborough on loan from Troyes in January of last year after enduring a mixed loan spell with Championship rivals Cardiff City. Wednesday were in the midst of a relegation dogfight at that time and eventually pulled off the great escape by sealing Championship survival, helped by Ugbo's efforts infront of goal.

The nine-cap Canada international found the back of the net on seven occasions from just 18 league games, working out to 0.44 goals per 90 minutes. That prompted Danny Rohl to acquire the forward permanently at a reported cost of £2.5 million, though the Owls are yet to see any vindication on that investment.

After 29 appearances and 15 starts, Ugbo is remarkably yet to open his account in the current campaign, with his league goalless streak running into the back end of last season.

And his only goal of 2024-25 altogether came in the 5-1 EFL Cup rout of Grimsby Town all the way back in August, and he has not been short of chances to break his duck either.

The Chelsea academy product missed two key chances in Wednesday's 2-1 defeat at home to Coventry City on Saturday afternoon before making way for Michael Smith after 54 minutes.

Sheffield Wednesday verdict offered on Ike Ugbo's 2024/25 form

Although Ugbo was naturally going to slow down somewhat in comparison to his form while on loan, few could have anticipated such a staggering deterioration in his output. Wednesday invested heavily in Ugbo's signature too, which only adds to the disappointment.

Ugbo still has time to turn around his fortunes, although he isn't showing any signs of getting off the mark and the manner in which his hotly-anticipated return to the Steel City is sure to be frustrating for all involved.

FLW asked our Owls fan pundit, Patrick McKenna, just what he believes has gone wrong for Ugbo this season. Patrick admitted it's a "curious case" with the misfiring frontman.

"This really is a curious case with Ike Ugbo, the fact that after 29 league games he has 0 goals and 0 assists," Patrick told FLW.

"I don't think anybody saw that coming, even if he was naturally going to have a less-prolific season than the last in terms of his goals per game ratio.

"His drop-off is stark. I do understand strikers can feed off confidence and even the best strikers do have dry spells, but this one has gone on for so long and, at the minute, you can't watch him play and have any confidence he'll start scoring anytime soon.

"I could see a situation where we get to the end of the season and he still hasn't scored. I'm hoping to have egg on my face with that one.

"What makes it so baffling is that this season, other players have improved. Djeidi Gassama has kicked on and Josh Windass is having his best season in a Wednesday shirt, while Michael Smith is really stepping up to the plate.

"Ugbo has to take responsibility for it. Is it a case that his attitude isn't right? In games he can look so peripheral and on Saturday he had a really good chance put on a plate for him to score and he completely fluffed it.

Sheffield Wednesday may persist with Ike Ugbo

Wednesday will be desperate to see some form of return on their investment, but as time goes on, that's looking increasingly unlikely.

One does have to wonder whether the club will decide to cut their losses and sanction a summer sale in order to try and recoup at least some of their transfer fee to Troyes, which would likely be deficient to that sum.

Due to that, though, Patrick believes the Owls will not be looking to move Ugbo on in the summer - which FLW also asked for his thoughts on.

"As for moving him on in the summer, I don't think we will for a few reasons," Patrick continued.

"The first reason being that if we do try and sell him, it's going to be a loss on a player. I really can't see us selling him for £2.5 million or more.

"It's a lack of options as well. If we had a number of other strikers waiting there, we could get rid of him more easily.