Sheffield Wednesday have had their share of transfer tales down the years – some delivering fond memories and some not so fond.
Sometimes the nature of the club’s efforts to sign a player does not always become public at the time – and some stories get lost in the annals of history and are long-forgotten.
Everyone knows what happened with Eric Cantona, but did you know for example of the time Wednesday attempted to sign Alan Shearer? Or how about the near-miss on Jaap Stam?
Here are a few remarkable Wednesday transfer efforts that just didn’t quite come off.
1. Wednesday have gone after some big names in their time..
..but not many were dragged over the line. How about the likes of Jaap Stam, Paul Gascoigne, Henrik Larsson and Alan Shearer? Let’s take a look.. Photo: via Getty
2. Henrik Larsson
In the wake of Paolo Di Canio’s infamous push of referee Paul Alcock back in the 1998/99 season, Wednesday went in search of a striker. Among the names that emerged was Celtic legend Larsson, who is believed to have been the subject of a £2m bid. It was given short shrift by the Scots and he went on to do OK – pulling on the shirts of little-known clubs such as Barcelona and Manchester United. Photo: Alex Livesey
3. Eric Cantona
The one that everybody knows about, of course. The ins and outs of exactly what happened are debated, but Cantona spent time with Trevor Francis’ Owls and went as far as to pull on the blue and white shirt in an indoor exhibition match against touring side Baltimore Blast. Legend has it Francis asked him to stay on and train an extra week – he went on to Leeds and then Manchester United. Photo: Getty Images
