Sheffield Wednesday: Sunderland transfer revenge will be sweet after Ike Ugbo boost - View | OneFootball

Sunderland poached Ian Poveda amid Sheffield Wednesday's interest, but the Owls have gone one better in return

Highlights

Sheffield Wednesday were left to lick their wounds when Ian Poveda decided to sign for Sunderland instead but they may now end up having the last laugh over the Black Cats following the return of Ike Ugbo.

The Owls have had a strong summer window by bringing in no less than ten players to ensure marked improvement this season, with optimism high around Hillsborough following Danny Röhl's magnificent work since taking the job last October.

Max Lowe, who joined the club after his release from fierce local rivals Sheffield United, is a particularly intriguing capture, and the return of last season's loanee James Beadle is great business. Meanwhile, the likes of Yan Valery, Jamal Lowe, and Nathaniel Chalobah - and Wednesday's left-field overseas recruits - should all bring strong depth to Röhl's side at an absolute minimum.

Continuity is always crucial to some degree, though, which is exactly why Röhl pushed hard to return his three finest loanees from the previous season. Beadle, who is equally assured with his hands as he is with his feet, made a strong impression on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion, but Ugbo was quite clearly the number one target after his goals kept them in the Championship.

Poveda also put in a series of eye-catching displays in his half-season loan spell away from Leeds United and ended up joining Sunderland, though Wednesday have struck the sweetest revenge.

Ian Poveda joined Sunderland over Sheffield Wednesday

Röhl himself confirmed that Wednesday had entered talks with Poveda about a potential Hillsborough return, with the winger having been among the most sought-after properties in the second-tier free agent market following his departure from Yorkshire rivals Leeds United.

However, the German boss also admitted to difficulty in negotiations between the club and player before Poveda eventually decided to head up to the Stadium of Light instead, agreeing a three-year contract.

"On the one side we have interest from the club and what we want to do, but then there is the player’s side and the agent’s side," Röhl said to the Star of Wednesday's interest in Poveda at the time.

"There must be a match and maybe there are some things that are maybe not a match and so it is different. In my mind Ian Poveda is not under contract, we will look in the end where he is and what we can do, but it must be a decision together."

It was a real sore sight for Wednesdayites to see Poveda unveiled in red-and-white colours, though they've now got one over Sunderland by signing Ugbo.

Sheffield Wednesday secure Ike Ugbo return at Sunderland's expense

Following a much-drawn-out transfer saga, Wednesday eventually brought Ugbo back to Hillsborough on a permanent basis by agreeing a £3m fee with Ligue 2 outfit Troyes, according to Darren Witcoop on X.

The striker put pen to paper on a four-year deal with the club he kept in the Championship last season, scoring eight goals after sealing a January loan switch to the Steel City.

At one stage, it had emerged that Sunderland were best placed to land Ugbo amid a complication in the structuring of the deal between Wednesday and Troyes, but Röhl finally managed to secure his man - and what a signing it is for Wednesday at Sunderland's expense.

Sunderland's striker issues are well-documented, with the club forced to place an almost sole reliance upon winger Jack Clarke to provide the goods in front of goal. He did exactly that by scoring 15 times in the Championship last season and is already off the mark after bagging the second goal in his side's 2-0 victory at Cardiff City last weekend.

Clarke aside, though, and the question of where the goals are going to come from this year remains a real concern on Wearside, with Sunderland having still not recruited a single striker this summer with just two weeks left to go in the transfer window.

None of Sunderland's strikers managed to score more than twice in league action last season and were all rotated heavily, with Mason Burstow, Nazariy Rusyn, Eliezer Mayenda, Luis Hemir and even Bradley Dack all failing to lock down the position through poor form. Mayenda lead the line at Cardiff but despite Sunderland's encouraging victory, his performance miserably epitomised the dire need for additional options at the top of the pitch and Ugbo most certainly would have represented a much-welcomed improvement.

In previous times, Ugbo has struggled to establish consistency in front of goal but he brought that in spades during his loan spell with the Owls last term along with building a strong rapport with fans, who were elated to see him return to the club.

The Canada international clearly desired a return to Wednesday all along, though.

"I think it was clear after the last game of the season when I spoke to the gaffer I made it clear that I wanted to work with him and that we wanted to work together again and we wanted to keep pushing," Ugbo told The Star after returning to the club.

"There’s a lot of factors that came into it, coming back to Sheffield. I wanted somewhere I could call home and how I ended up finishing the season, my mind was always made up in a way. Of course, there were going to be offers here and there but I think I had my mind made up already."