Sheffield Wednesday keen on Lincoln City player on free transfer | OneFootball

A big summer awaits Sheffield Wednesday as they prepare to acclimatize to life back in the second-tier following promotion, and Regan Poole has been marked as a transfer target according to The Star.

The Welsh defender is set to become a free agent when his deal at Lincoln City expires this summer, and it appears as though he is primed for a step-up in the wake of an impressive campaign for the Imps.

Having scooped both the club's Player and Players' Player of the Season awards in his first full campaign in Lincolnshire, Poole registered 56 appearances across all competitions last term and captained the side on numerous occasions as they recorded a respectable 11th-placed finish.

Who is Regan Poole?

Hailing from South Wales, Poole spent time in the academies of both Cardiff City and Newport County before making his first-team breakthrough as a 16-year-old in the 2014/15 season, where he played 17 times amid interest from Liverpool and Manchester United.

The Red Devils eventually reigned victorious in the race for Poole's signature, though he failed to make a name for himself at Old Trafford, with a sole appearance coming in the Europa League prior to loan stints at Northampton and then back to Newport.

Poole went on to join MK Dons on a permanent basis in June 2019, and did enough there to allure the interest of Lincoln eighteen months later who, at the time, were contesting for promotion to the Championship.

The 24-year-old has undertaken a significant trajectory since his switch to Lincoln, helping the club to an unlikely play-off final in his first half-season before clinching two awards the following year, and then establishing himself as arguably one of the best defenders in League One over the last nine months.

Why would Regan Poole be a good option for Sheffield Wednesday?

One of the chief components of Poole's footballing arsenal is his positional flexibility, which can be something of a rarity among defenders.

Equally adept either as a centre-back or a right-back, Poole is not shy to get forward and can also operate higher up as a wing-back, and this caters to Moore's vision of having versatile, flexible footballers within his system.

As a result of his years of nurturing in the illustrious United youth system, he is also calm, assured and comfortable within possession, which could license the Owls with a platform to build and initiate play from the back.

And, given how young Poole was when he broke onto the scene with Newport, it can be easy to forget how young he still is; at 24, he has already amassed a mightily impressive 250 career appearances, but yet, he is at an age where his prime years are approaching and naturally, he should only get even better in the near future.

Should their interest bear fruit, Poole will be able to obtain invaluable Championship experience and know-how from well-versed defensive counterparts such as Liam Palmer, Michael Ihiekwe and Dominic Iorfa, all of whom possess years of grounding in this division.