Seven-figure Sheffield Wednesday transfer deal is already looking like a bust: View | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday paid £2.5m to sign Ike Ugbo in the summer but he has struggled this season.

Sheffield Wednesday had a very busy summer as Danny Rohl was backed to reshape the squad ahead of his first full season in charge.

So far, the results have been inconsistent, with the Owls sitting 15th in the Championship, and it’s also been a mixed bag in terms of how the new recruits have settled.

Of those who have failed to impress in the early months, perhaps the biggest surprise has been Ike Ugbo.

Ike Ugbo is struggling to rediscover his best Sheffield Wednesday form

That’s because the forward had been on loan at Hillsborough last season, and his goalscoring form was key to Rohl’s men pulling off an unlikely escape.

Ugbo found the net seven times in 18 games during the second half of the campaign, but that didn’t tell the whole story. Every goal the 26-year-old scored came in a victory, so his contribution really can’t be understated.

Therefore, it was no surprise that Rohl and the recruitment team were pushing to bring Ugbo back to Yorkshire, and they finally got a deal done in August, with the signing seen as a real coup due to the competition for his signature.

Yet, nine games into the season, Ugbo has not got near those levels since the permanent switch from Troyes.

In fairness to the striker, a slow start was always to be expected.

Ugbo had a disrupted pre-season as there was plenty of uncertainty over his future, so it was going to take time to build up his fitness.

However, that would only be an excuse for the first few games. It’s something that should’ve been rectified, but Ugbo is still not near his best.

A goal and an assist in the convincing League Cup win at Grimsby should’ve been what Ugbo needed to get going in the Championship, but he didn’t take the opportunities that came his way after starting in the following games.

Ike Ugbo must fight to show his quality at Sheffield Wednesday

With Ugbo’s poor run in front of goal continuing, Rohl made the decision to use him from the bench in the win at Coventry City last time out, as Jamal Lowe led the line.

The former Swansea man did well, as he was involved in the equaliser, and he was a constant threat in what was a good performance by the Owls.

It should be said that Ugbo played his part when he came on, but he has now failed to score in eight games, and with the team picking up all three points against the Sky Blues, it would be no surprise if the boss kept faith with that XI moving forward.

That would frustrate Ugbo, but ultimately, all strikers will be judged by goals, and this run is a worry for the ex-Chelsea youngster.

Of course, it’s far too soon to be writing Ugbo off, but the reality is that Wednesday would’ve been hoping for more by this stage of the season.

The £2.5m fee may not seem a lot in the modern game, but it was a big outlay for Wednesday in the summer, and Ugbo needs to start performing after the international break to ensure it’s not a deal the club regrets.