Sheffield Wednesday: Dejphon Chansiri should seek to repeat Norwich City transfer masterstroke | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday should take inspiration from the loan signing of Gary Hooper from Norwich City in 2015 ahead of the January transfer window.

After a tricky start to the campaign, it has been a positive season for Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship so far.

Wednesday secured survival last season following a remarkable turnaround under Danny Rohl, and many tipped them to climb the table this term, but fears increased that another relegation battle could be on the cards after they lost three of their first four games.

However, the Owls have improved significantly since then, and they returned to winning ways with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Hull City at the MKM Stadium on Tuesday night, with Josh Windass' first half penalty and Michael Smith's 82nd-minute goal sealing all three points.

Wednesday currently sit 13th in the table, and they are only five points from the play-off places ahead of the game against Derby County at Pride Park on Sunday.

With the January transfer window fast approaching, Rohl has confirmed that he is keen to bolster his squad, and bringing in a new striker is likely to be a priority for the German.

Danny Rohl drops January transfer window hint

In an attempt to fix the goalscoring problems that haunted them last season, Wednesday signed three new strikers during the summer transfer window, but they have failed to make an impact at Hillsborough so far.

Ike Ugbo scored an impressive seven goals and registered one assist in 19 games during his loan spell with the Owls in the second half of last season to keep them in the Championship, and there was plenty of hope that he would continue that form after the club paid a reported £2.5 million to sign him permanently in August, but he has found the back of the net just once this season.

Having finished last season as Swansea City's top scorer, Jamal Lowe looked to be a strong signing for Wednesday on paper when he arrived on a free transfer from Bournemouth, but he has only got on the scoresheet twice in 15 appearances so far - albeit only seven of those came from the start.

The Owls fought off competition from Lazio, Torino, LA Galaxy, and Toronto to win the race for former Manchester United striker Charlie McNeill this summer, but despite the 21-year-old enjoying a dream debut as he scored twice in the 2-1 win at Hull City in the EFL Cup in August, he is yet to play a single minute in the league.

That has meant that much of the goalscoring burden has fallen to Michael Smith, who was expected to depart in the summer amid interest from Wrexham and a number of other clubs, and the 33-year-old has performed admirably, scoring four goals and providing four assists in 19 games.

The issue for the Owls is that Smith is not a prolific striker at Championship level, nor is he particularly suited to Rohl's preferred style of play, so with that in mind, it would be no surprise to see a new number nine arrive in South Yorkshire in January.

Rohl revealed that he is looking to bring in "impact players" during the winter window, rather than players who will just make up the numbers in the squad, and with finances likely to be tight, Wednesday could turn to the loan market once again, just as they did successfully in the summer with the signings of James Beadle and Shea Charles.

Of course, owner Dejphon Chansiri's reluctance to invest could make it tough for the Owls to find the clinical striker they need, but as they search for a new front man, they should take inspiration from the loan signing of Gary Hooper from Norwich City in 2015.

Sheffield Wednesday should target Gary Hooper repeat in January

Having replaced Stuart Gray with Carlos Carvalhal in the summer of 2015, Chansiri spent big as he looked to turn Wednesday into potential promotion contenders, and Hooper was one of the club's main targets.

It proved to be a turbulent pursuit of Hooper, and the Owls actually failed to reach an agreement for the striker during the summer transfer window, with both Norwich and the player denying claims that the collapse of the deal was due to a disagreement over giving him a VIP box for his friends and family to attend games.

However, with Hooper struggling for game time in the Premier League with the Canaries, he eventually joined Wednesday on loan in October 2015, and given his strong career goalscoring record, he was an exciting signing for Carvalhal's men.

Hooper made the impact that many expected at Hillsborough, and after he scored six goals and registered one assist in 12 games during his loan spell, the move was made permanent in January 2016.

The 36-year-old ended his first season with the Owls with 13 goals and five assists in 35 appearances, but his side suffered heartbreak as they missed out on promotion to the Premier League following a 1-0 deeat to Hull City in the play-off final at Wembley.

Hooper struggled with injury the following season as Wednesday once again endured play-off disappointment, this time losing on penalties to Huddersfield Town in the semi-finals, but despite scoring just six goals and providing three assists in 24 games, he was still crucial to the club's promotion push.

The striker was clearly determined to make up for the previous play-off failures, and he started the 2017-18 season in outstanding form, scoring 11 goals and registering three assists in his first 25 appearances, but Hooper's fortunes would take a dramatic turn for the worse after he was forced off with injury in the 3-0 win at Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day.

After suffering a host of setbacks in his recovery, Hooper ended up spending over 15 months on the sidelines before making his return in March 2019, but in truth, he struggled to get back to his best after such a lengthy lay-off.

Hooper did score once and provide one assist in six games towards the end of the 2018-19 season, but he was released by the Owls in the summer, and that marked the end of his career at the higher levels of English football, with the ex-Celtic man going on to have spells with Wellington Phoenix, Kerala Blasters, Omonia, Gulf United and Barnet before joining Kettering Town in October.