Chansiri can win back Sheffield Wednesday supporters with summer transfer swoop: View | OneFootball

Dejphon Chansiri's fraught relationship with Sheffield Wednesday fans has a chance to be rekindled, with a transfer move for their high-flying loan striker Ike Ugbo.

The PR disaster that was Chansiri's October 2023 interview - where he asked critical fans to raise £2 million worth of money to pay an unpaid tax bill and wages - caused uproar in the wider football community and created a huge divide between the higher-ups and the fanbase.

After an extremely turbulent year for the South Yorkshire side, fans of Sheffield Wednesday will want clarity over the future of owner Chansiri.

If the Thai business tycoon stays at the club, and they survive relegation from the second tier, adequate investment will need to be made in the squad to keep fans happy, and such investment can be seen specifically in retaining their star loan striker Ugbo.

Ike Ugbo's impact at Sheffield Wednesday

Ugbo has had a great few months in South Yorkshire, bagging seven goals and one assist in 2024 under German manager Danny Rohl.

The Canada international began the season with Cardiff City on loan from Ligue 2 side ESTAC Troyes, with a switch to Sheffield Wednesday in the January transfer window. His time with Cardiff was cut short due to manager Erol Bulut's exploration of other strikers in the market.

His impact was felt strongly in their 3-0 win over West Brom on Saturday, putting a dent in opposing manager Carlos Corberan's play-off hopes. The 25-year-old's goal in the 50th minute put the club in a position where survival is very possible coming into the final day of the season.

When the Canadian joined Rohl's side in January, Wednesday were three points off safety in the Championship. His arrival quickly changed their fortunes up-front, helping claw the club into a better position in their first season back in the league since 2021.

Ugbo has also proven his versatility out wide for a few games under Rohl, but his goals have mainly come from his most natural position - as a central striker.

His ability to adapt and fit Wednesday's system will surely give the club another reason to negotiate a permanent transfer. Relationships that have been formed during his time with the likes of Anthony Musaba and Josh Windass are worth noting too, as the trio have shown synergy in the great escape from the relegation zone.

The former Chelsea youth player is no stranger to EFL football, having had spells at Barnsley, MK Dons at Scunthorpe during his career.

This though, unlike most seasons of his career, has been very successful with his goal-scoring tally reaching double figures for the first time since the 2020/21 season.

During that season, Ugbo netted 16 times for Cercle Brugge in the Belgian Pro League, which attracted interest from many clubs and then he headed permanently to Genk from Chelsea.

Ugbo's career has come full circle once again, as the hot form from the striker will surely be attracting interest from top teams along with a reassessment from his parent club - the problem that Sheffield Wednesday face is evaluating whether he will find consistency under Danny Rohl in the long term.

Doubts over just how open Sheffield Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri's wallet will be

Despite the Chansiri family's net worth sitting at around half a billion pounds, they announced in a statement earlier in the season that they are "not willing to inject more money" due to fan protests.

The cashflow struggles described by Wednesday's owner meant most of their transfer activity last summer was limited to loan moves and short-term deals to try and survive in the Championship after their promotion. The likes of Jeff Hendrick from Newcastle United were welcomed through the doors at Hillsborough on season-long loans, with some of the transfers doing better than others.

The financial strategists at Sheffield Wednesday will be looking at Ugbo's recent call-up to the Canadian National Team as a very positive sign, being included by Mauro Biello for their Copa América game against Trinidad and Tobago. Ugbo grabbed an all-important assist in that game to help send Canada to the summer competition, where they will play Argentina in their first game.

Survival in the Championship would be a financial saving grace which could put the owner in a position where investments can be made. However, the continued backlash and negativity towards Dejphon Chansiri could still be a deciding factor in how seriously the club treats the upcoming market window.

If he does splash the cash on signing Ugbo on a full-time basis though, perhaps Wednesday supporters would go easy on the Thai businessman for a while - that could be enough persuasion in itself to make a deal happen.