Sheffield Wednesday are expected to re-sign striker Ike Ugbo after a successful loan spell with the Championship side last season.
Despite late interest from fellow Championship side Sunderland, Ugbo is reportedly expected to join the Owls on a permanent deal within the next couple of days ahead of their season opener against Plymouth Argyle on Sunday.
Ugbo’s European Tour
Ike Ugbo was born in London but moved to Canada and played in the Brampton East SC and Woodbridge Strikers youth systems.
The striker joined the Chelsea academy at the age of ten and made several appearances at youth team level.
The striker never made an appearance for the Premier League side’s first team and had several loan spells while in West London at Barnsley, Milton Keynes Dons and Scunthorpe United.
There were further loan spells in Europe with Roda JC Kerkrade and Cercle Brugge where Ugbo hit form, scoring 30 goals in 63 appearances across both spells.
Ugbo joined Belgian Pro League side Genk on a permanent deal in 2021 but after half a season, he moved to French side Troyes initially on loan and then on a permanent deal in August 2022.
The 25-year-old went on loan to Cardiff City at the beginning of the 2023-24 season and after four goals in 22 appearances joined Sheffield Wednesday for the remainder of the season. Ugbo became a key part of the Wednesday side that survived the drop and scored seven goals in 19 appearances.
Wednesday have seemingly fought off competition for the striker from the likes of Sunderland and he is reportedly set to sign for Danny Röhl’s side on a permanent deal.
What impact can Ugbo have on Sheffield Wednesday?
When Röhl and Wednesday signed Ugbo on loan in January, he emphasised the impact that the striker was going to have on his side:
“He has good ability one versus one, he can press, and he has a lot of good things we can use for our style of football”.
The Canadian international showed this for Wednesday last season having scored seven goals in the nineteen appearances.
Ugbo will once again bring clinical finishing to Wednesday this season with his 11 goals coming from an expected goal (xG) of 9.87 showing his ability to finish chances from difficult positions.
Ugbo proved to be a constant threat last season with an average of 2.01 shots per 90 minutes with a shot accuracy of 62%. He showed his ambipedal ability as well with five goals from his right foot and three from his left.
His aerial ability was shown having scored three goals from headers and winning 1.93 aerial duels on average per 90 minutes with an ability to get a significant leap above his opposition defenders.
Another way in which the 25-year-old suited Röhl’s Wednesday was the work rate and press that was implemented. Röhl usually required his striker to press opposition defenders which suits Ugbo’s ability to lead the press from the front.
The striker won 56.5% of tackles made last season and won an average of 2.69 recoveries per 90 minutes allowing him to win the ball in the final third for his team and having greater impact during attacking transitions.
Having had a successful spell for Wednesday at the end of last season, Ugbo will likely fit straight into the system deployed by Röhl and will hope to continue his impressive goalscoring exploits heading into the 2024-25 season.
