Opinion: Sheffield Wednesday should take a chance on 18-year-old West Ham man following Josh Windass injury blow | OneFootball

The closer we get to the start of the 2021-22 season, the stronger Sheffield Wednesday’s squad looks despite not spending a single penny in transfer fees.

Darren Moore cleared the decks following relegation from the Championship, with several big earners and experienced players like Jordan Rhodes, Keiren Westwood and Adam Reach all departing Hillsborough.

Despite that, the under contract nucleus of Moore’s squad is a strong one – Dominic Iorfa, Barry Bannan, Callum Paterson and Josh Windass were all set to play a key part in a potential League One promotion push.

Sometimes plans don’t always come through though, and in this case it concerns Windass who is set to be on the sidelines for a significant period of time after suffering a hamstring injury in pre-season.

Wednesday turned down bids from Millwall for Windass earlier in the window, and now instead of starting the season with the 27-year-old up-front, Moore must now search even more desperately for attacking reinforcements.

The free agents market in terms of strikers looks pretty thread-bare right now, so like the club have done with the likes of Olamide Shodipo and Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Wednesday may be well-placed to delve into the loan market once again for a new forward.

You only have to look at the Premier League 2 competition to see that there is plenty of young goal-scoring strikers waiting to have a crack at the EFL and in Ademipo Odubeko, Wednesday could accelerate the progress of a talented Irish teenager.

Odubeko spent time at the academies of both Manchester United and City, but left the former in 2019 after three years to join West Ham United – he initially started scoring goals in the under-18’s for the Irons, netting seven times in six outings in the 2019-20 season before stepping up to the under-23’s the following campaign.

20 questions about some of Sheffield Wednesday’s biggest ever moments in their history – Can you score full marks?

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When was the club founded?

1865

1866

1867

1868

Odubeko found similar form at that level, scoring 10 goals in nine matches, scored twice in the EFL Trophy against Southend United and even appeared for the senior side in the FA Cup against his former club Man United.

The 18-year-old failed to get off the bench in the Premier League after being selected in the squad by David Moyes 18 times, but Odubeko is clearly highly thought of at the London Stadium on the basis of being in and around the first team.

He’s not going to get ahead of Michail Antonio anytime soon though, and West Ham will likely bolster their strike-force this summer ahead of their Europa League campaign.

So there’s a choice to be made – keep Odubeko in the under-23’s for the season or seek a club in the EFL for the Irishman where he can thrive and get regular game-time.

Hillsborough could be the perfect fit for him and it’s something that Moore should be exploring ahead of the start of the League One season.