Nathaniel Mendez-Laing sends message to Sheffield Wednesday fans and Darren Moore | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday signed free agent Nathaniel Mendez-Laing on Monday in hoping to give their squad a boost as we head towards the busy Christmas period.

The 29-year-old has arrived at Hillsborough with experience of earning promotion from the Championship in 2017/18 and ability that should have him playing above League One level.

Nevertheless, Mendez-Laing is clearly grateful for the opportunity and took to Instagram to show his excitement at being offered a contract at the club.

He wrote: “Fresh start let’s go and get it! Firstly thank you to the manager for showing faith and believing in me, thank you for for all the welcome messages, I can’t wait to get going and hopefully get this great club back where it belongs!”

🔗 Instagram

There is a lot of competition for places in wide areas under Darren Moore, which means it will be interesting to see where Mendez-Laing fits in. Due to a potential lack of match sharpness and maturing into a new role, the natural position for Mendez-Laing to slot into could be as a central striker.

Moore has been playing with a front two in the last few weeks and it has reaped its rewards as the Owls have cut the gap between themselves and the top six.

The Verdict

Mendez-Laing left Cardiff City and Middlesbrough on a pretty sour note but should be able to assert his authority in the third tier. Florian Kamberi, Lee Gregory, Saido Berahino and Callum Paterson provide strong competition, however they do not boast the recent record of Mendez-Laing, if he can prove his fitness then Wednesday have gained a real asset.

The expectations are high at Hillsborough this season and the pressure will not lighten on the shoulders of Darren Moore as long as the Owls remain outside of play-off places. The sense of occasion week by week and high stakes environment could bring the best out of Mendez-Laing, time will tell but this could prove to be a great piece of business for Sheffield Wednesday.