With takeover rumours and head coach Danny Rohl being linked to a transfer away from Hillsborough, Sheffield Wednesday’s future is uncertain. This summer, is there going to be another addition to the list of Sheffield Wednesday’s most costly acquisitions?
Sheffield Wednesday is set to have a memorable few months as Championship clubs get ready to conduct their summer transfer window business.
Head coach Danny Rohl has performed miracles since he took over from Xisco Munoz, saving the Owls from almost inevitable relegation last term, and stabilising the club as a mid-table second tier side with a 12th-place finish in the 2024/25 Championship campaign.
36-year-old Rohl is a head coach in demand, with his future still unresolved due to interest in his services from a host of European clubs.
Recently, Rohl has burnt bridges with Wednesday supporters after implying his time is up at Hillsborough, and he looks unlikely to be the Owls boss next term.
Above Rohl in the boardroom, Dejphon Chansiri’s tenure at Wednesday could soon be over, with a Wednesday takeover by an NFL billionaire being mooted this summer.
Amid rumours of a potential takeover and Rohl’s likely Hillsborough exit, EFL Analysis has dissected Wednesday’s five most expensive signings to date.
Sheffield Wednesday’s five most expensive signings ever
5. Darko Kovacevic – £4.2m
Serbian forward Darko Kovacevic was signed by then-Premier League Sheffield Wednesday in the winter transfer window of the 1995/96 season, from Serbian giants Red Star Belgrade for a fee in the region of £4.2million, in a joint transfer with Dejan Stefanovic.
Kovacevic scored four goals in 16 appearances for the Owls, including a brace on home soil against Bolton Wanderers and a strike against Liverpool, but overall failed to adapt to life in English football.
4. Gilles De Bilde – £4.2m
Belgian Gilles De Bilde arrived at Sheffield Wednesday from Dutch giants PSV in August 1999 for a £4.2million fee ahead of their Premier League campaign.
De Bilde had found the net 24 times in 49 appearances in his two years at PSV, and helped PSV become Dutch champions with a seven goal streak in eight league games in the second half of the 1996/97 Eredivisie.
In his first season at Wednesday, De Bilde notched ten league goals, but could not help stem the tide of the Owls’ relegation from the top flight back down to the Championship.
De Bilde endured a goalless loan spell at Aston Villa during his time at Wednesday before concluding his career in his native Belgium.
3. Benito Carbone – £4.3m
Benito Carbone arrived at Sheffield Wednesday for £4.3million from Italian giants Inter Milan at the beginning of the 1996/97 Premier League campaign.
Carbone played alongside countryman Paolo Di Canio at Wednesday under then-manager Danny Wilson, and would prove to be a brilliant acquisition.
In Carbone’s second season, he ended the campaign as top goalscorer with nine goals in all competitions, helping his side to an impressive 12th-place finish in the Premier League and was awarded the fans’ player of the season for his efforts.
After scoring 25 times in 96 appearances across three years, Carbone left the Owls at the start of the 1999/00 season amidst a contract dispute, signing for Aston Villa before moving onto Bradford City – but would fail to revive his goalscoring prowess in the blue and white jersey.
Italian international Carbone has been the head coach of Inter’s under-18s outfit after retiring with 554 professional games in the bank for 17 different club
Adam Reach stands as Wednesday’s second most expensive transfer following his £5million arrival on a three-year contract from boyhood club Middlesbrough ahead of the 2016/17 campaign.
Versatile Reach had made 63 appearances for Boro before loan spells across the EFL, before making Hillsborough his permanent home when Carlos Carvalhal was at the helm.
Englishman Reach made 230 appearances across five Championship campaigns for the Owls, scoring 24 goals, and cementing himself as one of the club’s greatest servants in their modern era before joining West Brom in August 2021 upon the expiry of his Owls deal.
English Football League veteran Reach was one game away from Wembley this season, having recently lost in the League One play-off semi-finals with Wycombe Wanderers, and the club has since announced 32-year-old Reach will be leaving this summer when his current contract is up.
1. Jordan Rhodes – £9.9m
Unsurprisingly, forward Jordan Rhodes is number one on Sheffield Wednesday’s most expensive signings list, following the Scottish striker’s £9.9million arrival from Boro in the summer of 2017.
Rhodes spent the season prior on loan at the Owls, finding the net three times in 20 games as their season culminated in a 3-4 loss on penalties to Huddersfield Town in the Championship play-off semi-finals.
The Owls were condemned to another season in the second tier for the 2017-18 campaign, buoyed by the permanent acquisition of the former Blackburn Rovers goal machine, but ended his four-season stint at Hillsborough without registering double-figure goal returns in any singular season.
Rhodes failed to fire Sheffield Wednesday back to the top flight, and his barren goalscoring record proved to be a poor return on the near eight-figure investment in the striker’s services. It’s an odd one, given he is actually one of the top goalscorers in Championship history.
Rhodes departed Wednesday for Norwich on loan before spending time at Huddersfield and Blackpool, and this season scored once in 14 League One appearances for Mansfield Town.
Now, we just have to wait and see if Sheffield Wednesday’s prospective new owners are ready to break the bank and put a new name on this list.
