Sheffield Wednesday may not rue Ian Poveda miss after Sunderland AFC situation – View
There was plenty of desire from Sheffield Wednesday fans for the club to re-sign Ian Poveda on a permanent deal this summer, after the Colombian played a massive part in keeping the Owls in the division in the previous campaign.
Having made the move to Hillsborough on loan from Leeds United, the forward’s tenacity in the final third helped to transform Danny Rohl’s side, leading to many wanting Wednesday to snap him up when his contract at Elland Road came to an end in June.
But the 24-year-old opted for a move to Sunderland instead, where he joined the Regis Le Bris revolution at the Stadium of Light, leaving Rohl heading back to the drawing board in terms of attacking recruits.
But two months into the season, the Yorkshire outfit won’t be fretting over the playmaker quite so much anymore, with injury struggles seeing him barely getting on the pitch during his time with the Mackems.
Ian Poveda injury issues hamper start to Sunderland career
Poveda’s injury issues started at the tail end of the previous campaign, as he missed Wednesday’s run-in due to a lack of fitness, and those same qualms have come back to haunt him in the current campaign.
An initial setback saw the former Manchester City man have to wait until the end of August to make his league debut for the club, as he came off the bench in the Wearsiders’ 3-1 victory over Portsmouth at Fratton Park.
That showing proved to be a false dawn though, with a thigh injury limiting him to just two more substitute appearances before the current international break, with the second of which having major consequences.
The forward was on the pitch for just ten minutes in Sunderland’s 2-0 victory over Derby County last week before having to be replaced, with Le Bris confirming the muscular injury will keep him out between four and six weeks.
With the fixtures coming thick and fast after the international break, the Black Cats will have to make do without their forward once again, with the summer’s acquisition yet to live up to the lofty expectations he created during his spell at Hillsborough.
Sheffield Wednesday will have no regrets over Ian Poveda transfer miss
While Poveda proved during his time in Yorkshire that he can be among the best in the Football League in terms of high-energy and creativity in the final third, those moments have proven to be few and far between in recent years.
Aside from a loan spell at Blackpool in the 2022/23 campaign where he featured 24 times for the Seasiders, the Colombian is set to play more than 20 games across a full domestic season, with injuries catching up with him on a regular basis.
With another setback on the cards, Sunderland’s new signing has played just 46 minutes of league football this season, with more game time unlikely to come until late November.
Had Rohl pushed the boat out to make Poveda a Wednesday player this summer, the Owls could well have found themselves in a trickier predicament than they find themselves in now, with the ex-Leeds man likely to have taken up some of the budget to be spent on attacking personnel.
While he could well have played his part in the season ahead, Wednesday need players who are going to be available more often than not, and Poveda cannot be trusted to be playing week in, week out at this point in his career.
While the near-miss would have been hard to take in the summer, that pain will have been eased by what has happened since, with Wednesday having more than enough attacking personnel at their disposal to pick up results in the months to come.
