Owls sign Reach on hectic day to beat deadline
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY last night became the fourth Yorkshire club to smash their club record transfer fee this summer when Middlesbrough winger Adam Reach joined in a £5m deal that could rise by a further £2m.
The 23-year-old has signed a five-year deal at Hillsborough after the Owls beat off competition from several other Championship clubs to land their eighth signing of the window.
Reach is the latest big money arrival under ambitious chairman Dejphon Chansiri as part of the Wednesday chairman’s pledge to deliver Premier League football by next year’s 150th anniversary of the club being formed.
“It was a bit of a crazy day,” said Reach, whose arrival eclipses the £4.5m fee Wednesday paid Celtic for Paolo Di Canio in a 1997 transfer that saw Regi Blinker move north of the border. “I started the day with no idea what was going on. I trained at Boro in the morning but, once news of Sheffield Wednesday and a potential deal came through, me and my agent moved quickly to get it done.
“Games were few and far between at Middlesbrough and it was time to move on to a new challenge. Sheffield Wednesday came so close to promotion last year and, hopefully, we can get it right this year.”
Reach’s switch capped a hectic deadline day in the White Rose county as clubs scrambled to get deals done ahead of the 11pm deadline. The figures involved may not have been as eye-watering as elsewhere in the country as a window that had seen more than £3bn splashed by Premier League clubs in transfer fees and wages drew to a close but several significant deals still went through.
Adama Traore joined Middlesbrough from Aston Villa in a £7m deal, while heading in the opposite direction to the West Midlands was Albert Adomah.
Hull City, a day after breaking their own transfer record with the £13m capture of Ryan Mason, brought in Manchester United’s James Weir on a three-year deal along with Dynamo Kiev striker Dieumerci Mbokani on loan. As The Yorkshire Post went to press, the Tigers were hoping to clinch one more deal.
Another seven-figure transfer saw Sheffield United’s highly-rated teenager Dominic Calvert-Lewin join Premier League Everton.
The Merseyside club first expressed an interest in CalvertLewin shortly after Chris Wilder took charge earlier this summer but it took until yesterday morning for a deal to be thrashed out that met the Blades’ valuation.
Also heading out of Bramall Lane was Kieran Wallace, the leftback having joined Fleetwood Town on a season-long loan deal, and Marc McNulty, who completed a loan switch to Bradford City that includes a recall clause that can be activated in January. The Bantams also signed Newcastle United forward Haris Vukcik.
Explaining his decision to let McNulty go, Wilder said: “Marc made it clear in pre-season that he wanted regular first team football and I couldn’t guarantee him that. I don’t want to keep unhappy players and I think he might have been if he wasn’t given an opportunity. We’re still in a good position because, if Marc goes away and scores, we can bring him back.”
United were the busiest Yorkshire club in the Football League with five transfers, Burnley’s Daniel Lafferty and Wolverhampton Wanderers Ethan EbanksLandell arriving at the Lane.
In fact, only Doncaster Rovers of the county’s 11 senior clubs were not involved in any transfers during the final 24 hours of the window.
Some of those were minor departures such as Huddersfield Town youngster Jack Senior joining Luton Town and Paul Anderson having his contract cancelled at Bradford City to sign for Northampton Town.
But there were a host of important deals pushed through by clubs well aware that there is no fall-back option of the loan market for the rest of 2016 after FIFA scrapped the emergency window.
Leeds United snapped up Bournemouth midfielder Eunan O’Kane on a two-year deal. Garry Monk had made his interest in the Republic of Ireland international known earlier in the summer but talks broke down.
United, however, persisted and a breakthrough was made to make O’Kane the club’s 11th signing of the summer. He will join up with his new team-mates next week after returning from international duty. O’Kane, who made 13 Premier League appearances for the Cherries last term, was an unused substitute for the Republic of Ireland in a 4-0 win over Oman.
Rotherham United added Middlesbrough’s teenage defender Dael Fry a couple of hours after allowing Richie Smallwood, Player of the Year at the New York Stadium in 2014-15, to leave on a season-long loan deal to Scunthorpe United.
Elsewhere in the Championship, Barnsley made three additions as Celtic full-back Saidy Janko, and Wigan midfielder Sam Morsy followed Queens Park Rangers defender Cole Kpekawa into Oakwell. Morsy has signed on a season-long loan deal, while 20-year-old Kpekawa cost £450,000. George Moncur has joined Peterborough on loan.