Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn will have massively differing reactions over January transfer saga: View | OneFootball

Highlights

A mishap in the January transfer window could have catastrophic effects for Blackburn Rovers, who are now caught up in the Championship relegation battle, while for Sheffield Wednesday it may have been a blessing in disguise.

The Championship duo were both chasing Orlando City striker Duncan McGuire from the MLS and whilst neither club got a deal done - for differing reasons - they have had differing fortunes since.

While Wednesday did strengthen up top in Troyes loanee Ike Ugbo instead, which has proven a masterstroke, Blackburn's blunder, which saw them miss out on McGuire after submitting paperwork too late after the deadline could come back to haunt them as they sleepwalk toward the drop.

With McGuire continuing his stay across the pond, there will be differing views on his failed move to the Championship.

In Wednesday's mind, they will see it as a blessing in disguise.

There are no guarantees that McGuire would've been a success but Ugbo has hit a purple patch. The former Chelsea man struck the only goal of the game as the Owls beat local rivals Rotherham United 1-0 to mark his sixth goal in five games for the Owls, and with four wins from their last five games, they’ve shot right up the table and are now just three points adrift of safety - an incredible rise, having been firmly rooted to the bottom of the table for almost all of the first half of the season.

Even if McGuire had come in and shone on the big stage, there’s no guarantee he would’ve scored the same amount of goals Ugbo has done - and more importantly, he would’ve robbed the striker of game time, which might've stopped him hitting the best form of his career to date.

For Rovers, they will be massively ruing not getting a deal over the line for the American striker. Just one win since the middle of December has seen them plummet down the leagues, and with a problematic 12 league goals since the turn of the new year, it’s nowhere near the firepower needed to sustain a strong survival push.

Barring the league’s top scorer in Sammie Szmodics, their next best scorer is Icelandic midfielder Arnor Sigurdsson on a measly five, which is nowhere near good enough for a team that boast the second-worst defensive record in the league.

McGuire could’ve had a huge say in their survival bid and it’s plausible that by now, he would’ve scored at least a couple of result-changing strikes.

What Blackburn Rovers said amid Duncan McGuire transfer failure

Blackburn released a club statement exactly one week after the January transfer window slammed shut confirming they were unsuccessful in their appeal to sign McGuire - though they admitted they would try to sign him in the summer.

It read:"Blackburn Rovers has been unsuccessful in its attempts to sign Duncan McGuire on loan from MLS side Orlando City.

"A deal had been agreed between the two clubs on February 1st for the player to join Rovers on loan until the end of the season, with a view to making the move permanent in the summer.

"Despite all relevant paperwork being completed and uploaded onto the system in good time, the signed registration documents were not submitted prior to the 11pm deadline. At a meeting held earlier today, the EFL Board has upheld the decision of the EFL Executive to reject Rovers’ application to register the USA international. Upon comprehensive review of submissions, the EFL Board determined that the upload of documents into a draft application area did not constitute sending documents to the EFL. It also took the decision that it was not prepared to exercise discretion to permit the registration outside of the window, as the EFL Executive had correctly interpreted and applied its Regulations and associated Guidance.

"The club is disappointed by the outcome, but accepts the decision of the EFL Board."