Sheffield Wednesday should look at Burnley deal if Championship return is confirmed: Opinion | OneFootball

A win against Charlton Athletic at The Valley on Saturday would move Sheffield Wednesday one step closer to a Championship return.

The League One leaders equalled a club-record 19-game unbeaten run with a 5-2 win over MK Dons last weekend and are the favourites for the second tier title with 15 games left to play.

Darren Moore and his squad will remain focussed on getting back to the Championship but the cogs will surely be turning in other parts of the club to ensure they have plans in place if that promotion is confirmed.

Strengthening the defence is likely to be high on Moore’s list of summer transfer priorities. The Owls have the best defensive record in the third tier despite having had a constantly changing back three due to injuries but you do feel as though at least one new centre-back needs to be recruited in the summer.

Aden Flint’s loan spell is set to expire at the end of the season while Dom Iorfa and Liam Palmer are both out of contract. The latter is likely to be given an extension after an impressive 2022/23 campaign but it would not be a huge surprise to see Iorfa depart.

Palmer is not the only full-back that has been forced to lean on as part of the back three this term while as an impressive as Reece James has been, it would be no bad thing for Wednesday to have more out-and-out centre-backs to call upon.

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Darren Moore is the current manager?

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They don’t have to look too far for a potential target either as Burnley defender Bobby Thomas is flourishing on loan at Barnsley at the moment.

The 22-year-old spent the first half of the season with Bristol Rovers but was recalled and sent to Oakwell to aid Michael Duff’s side in their League One promotion push.

Thomas is proving a hit in South Yorkshire. The centre-back has played every minute of the Tykes’ last six league games, helping them to go unbeaten in that time. He leads the squad in average interceptions, blocks, and aerials won per 90 while he’s second in terms of clearances (Whoscored).

With Burnley heading for the Premier League, a loan spell in the Championship looks like a natural next step for the young defender and Wednesday may well be able to offer him that.

There’s still a little while to go but the recruitment team will surely be building a list of post-promotion targets and Thomas should be on it.