Sheffield Wednesday boss makes Ian Poveda admission amid Sunderland transfer links after Leeds exit

Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl says the club remain interested in Ian Poveda but has suggested a deal isn’t close to completion amid transfer speculation.

Poveda made 10 Championship appearances on loan at Wednesday last season and became a free agent in June after his contract expired at Leeds. Several other clubs, including Sunderland, Burnley and Luton, have also been credited with interest in the 24-year-old, yet he’s still without a new club less than a month before the start of the new campaign.

According to our sister title the Sheffield Star, the Owls are still in the market for a player who fits Poveda’s profile, reporting there is interest from a range of clubs including from an unnamed Ligue 1 side.

When asked about the prospect of signing Poveda on a permanent transfer, Rohl told the Star: “On the one side we have interest from the club and what we want to do, but then there is the player’s side and the agent’s side. There must be a match and maybe there are some things that are maybe not a match and so it is different. In my mind Ian Poveda is not under contract, we will look in the end where he is and what we can do, but it must be a decision together.”

Wednesday have also been trying to re-sign former striker Uke Ugbo following his loan spell at Hillsborough last season, while the Owls have brought in former goalkeeper James Beadle for a second loan spell from Brighton.