Sheffield Wednesday will have expected more after Celtic heartbreak | OneFootball

Liam Shaw and Osaze Urhoghide have failed to kick on after leaving Sheffield Wednesday for Celtic in 2021.

Sheffield Wednesday have been known for producing exciting young talents over the years.

The likes of Cameron Dawson, Joe Wildsmith and Liam Palmer have all gone on to establish themselves in the first team after coming through the Wednesday academy over the past decade and manager Danny Rohl has shown a willingness to give youth a chance during his time at Hillsborough.

Pierce Charles, Gabriel Otegbayo, Sean Fusire, and Bailey Cadamarteri are among those who have been handed an opportunity at senior level by Rohl, and in a change of policy from owner Dejphon Chansiri, he has made a much greater effort to tie the club's academy products down to new contracts in recent years, rather than running the risk of losing them for free.

Goalkeeper Charles has become the latest youngster to be linked with a Premier League move and Chansiri's resolve would be tested if a top-flight club were to make a bid for him but all the signs are that the Owls chief has learned from the saga that saw midfielder Liam Shaw and defender Osaze Urhoghide join Celtic in 2021.

Shaw and Urhoghide impressed after breaking into the first team but amid accusations from supporters that Wednesday were not proactive enough in securing their futures, they both made the move north of the border within months of each other.

Losing Liam Shaw and Osaze Urhoghide was devastating for Sheffield Wednesday

Of course, all football supporters love to see one of their own progress through the academy ranks and into the first team and that was particularly relevant with Shaw, who was a boyhood Wednesday fan.

Shaw made his debut for the Owls towards the end of the 2019-20 campaign before being frequently included in the starting line-up the following season, and while he showed his inexperience and naivety at times as he received two red cards within the space of just over two months, his performances were one of few positives as the club battled against relegation.

However, much to the anger of the fanbase, it was announced in March 2021 that the rising star had agreed a pre-contract deal to join Celtic and the news did not go down well with Wednesday, who released a statement stating they were "investigating this matter and will consider if there are any further steps available to protect the club's interest".

Manager Darren Moore stressed that Shaw would remain fully committed to the Owls until the end of the season in their fight against the drop and insisted he would continue to select him, but the midfielder featured just four more times after his summer exit was confirmed.

Urhoghide joined Wednesday in the summer of 2019 after a successful trial period following his release from AFC Wimbledon, and he made national headlines for his heartwarming post-match interview after making his debut in the 1-0 win at Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup in January 2020.

Unfortunately for Urhoghide, he found his gametime limited under Garry Monk and Tony Pulis, but he became a regular in the second half of the 2020-21 season, and like Shaw, he looked to be a potential star of the future for the Owls.

However, as his stock continued to rise, he began to attract interest from elsewhere, with Leeds United, Crystal Palace, Watford, and Club Brugge all said to have been keen on the defender, and after Wednesday failed to agree a new contract with him, he joined Shaw at Celtic Park in the summer of 2021.

It was easy to see why Shaw and Urhoghide decided to make the move to Celtic and take the opportunity to compete for silverware with the Scottish giants, but the pair both found life difficult in Glasgow.

Shaw made just two appearances in his three-year spell with the Hoops, while Urhoghide only featured once for the club, and they spent much of their time at Celtic Park out on loan.

After struggling for minutes at Celtic, Shaw joined Motherwell on loan in January 2022 before returning to English football with Morecambe that summer, and he lined up against his former club Wednesday on a number of occasions during his spell at the Mazuma Stadium.

Ahead of an FA Cup meeting between the two sides in November 2022, Moore said that he wished he "had a longer time to work with" Shaw, and with his career heading in the wrong direction, the 23-year-old would surely have felt a sense of regret when he returned to Hillsborough.

Shaw was released by Celtic in the summer after his loan stint at Wigan Athletic, and after a few months without a club, he made the move to League Two side Fleetwood Town in October, and he will be hoping to reignite his career with Charlie Adam's men.

After a disappointing start to his Hoops career, Urhoghide joined KV Oostende on loan in January 2022, and he would go on to spend the next 18 months with the now-defunct Belgian outfit.

Despite the change of manager at Celtic that saw Brendan Rodgers replace Ange Postecoglou, there seemed little chance of Urhoghide forcing his way into the team, and he completed a permanent switch to French second-division side Amiens last summer.

While it is always difficult to predict the trajectory a young player's career will take, it is fair to say that Wednesday supporters would have expected Shaw and Urhoghide to achieve a lot more after leaving Hillsborough, and with the Owls now back in the Championship and progressing under Rohl, the pair may wish they had stayed in South Yorkshire for a little longer.