Sheffield Wednesday could live to regret Arsenal transfer miss | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday will be frustrated that they were unable to secure the signing of striker Mika Biereth from Arsenal.

Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping to be active in the January transfer window and bringing in a new striker is likely to be one of their main priorities.

After Wednesday narrowly avoided relegation from the Championship last season, manager Danny Rohl oversaw a huge rebuild during the summer, with 11 new signings arriving at Hillsborough during the course of the transfer window.

Many of the new additions have made an impact so after a positive opening few months of the season, the Owls look set to remain clear of any relegation danger and will instead be hoping to close the gap to the play-off places.

However, the one thing that could prevent Wednesday from mounting a serious promotion push in the second half of the season is the lack of a prolific goalscorer, with Ike Ugbo, Jamal Lowe, Michael Smith, and Charlie McNeill struggling to deliver consistently.

It could all have been so different for the Owls if they managed to seal a deal for long-term target Mika Biereth in the summer, and seeing how well he is currently performing at Sturm Graz will only increase their frustration at missing out on his signature.

Sheffield Wednesday's pursuit of Mika Biereth

With Wednesday languishing towards the bottom of the Championship, they were in desperate need of a new striker in the January transfer window, and Arsenal striker Biereth was said to be one name on their list of targets.

Biereth spent the first half of last season on loan at Scottish Premiership side Motherwell, and he scored six goals and provided five assists in 15 appearances during his productive spell at Fir Park.

However, with many Wednesday supporters expressing reservations over whether Biereth would be able to replicate that form in the Championship amid doubts over the quality of Scottish football, there was little disappointment when he instead made a temporary move to Sturm Graz.

After Biereth scored nine goals and provided six assists in 22 games for Sturm Graz in the second half of the season to help them finish second in the Austrian Bundesliga, there was much more excitement when it was reported in May that he had emerged on the Owls' radar once again.

Unfortunately for Wednesday, Biereth joined Sturm Graz on a permanent basis in June for a fee of £4 million, and his form this season may leave owner Dejphon Chansiri wishing that he had been stronger in his pursuit of the 21-year-old.

Sheffield Wednesday will be ruing Mika Biereth transfer failure

Wednesday were believed to be confident at one stage during the January transfer window that they were leading the race for Biereth, and having come so close to securing a deal, his current exploits for Sturm Graz will be exasperating for Rohl.

Given that Ugbo scored seven goals and provided one assist in 19 appearances to help keep the Owls in the Championship last season after joining on loan in January, Rohl may have initially felt that he landed the perfect alternative to Biereth.

In a deal that marked a significant change of approach from Chansiri, he spent a fee of £2.5 million to sign Ugbo permanently in August, but given the way the Canadian international has struggled this season, he may regret the fact he did not push the boat out for Biereth.

It remains to be seen whether Chansiri would have been willing to match the £4 million that Sturm Graz paid for Biereth, and he may have been slightly out of the Owls' price range, but on the basis of his form this season, he would certainly have been a worthwhile investment.

Biereth has been outstanding for Sturm Graz since his full-time move to the club, and he is currently among the top scorers in the Austrian Bundesliga after a stunning start to the campaign that has included a hat-trick in the 5-0 win over Red Bull Salzburg and a brace in the 7-0 victory against Austria Klagenfurt.

The Danish youth international's profile rose even further when he scored the only goal in his side's 1-0 win over Girona in the Champions League last month, and it would be no surprise to see him attract interest from across Europe in the next few transfer windows.

With Wednesday's strikers currently underperforming, Rohl would surely love to have a player of Biereth's quality at his disposal, and in addition to the impact he would have made on the pitch, he could also have brought in a big profit for the Owls at some stage.