Sheffield Wednesday planning to raid Premier League for loans after success story

The Owls secured Championship survival on Saturday with a 2-0 win at The Stadium of Light, capping a remarkable comeback effort that was lit by the appointment of manager Danny Röhl in October. The marked impact of Röhl and his coaching staff inspired the improvement in fortunes of the vast majority of the Wednesday squad that was languishing winless to become one of the form sides in the second tier across several months.

And speaking to The Star, Röhl believes that can help Wednesday attract some of the brightest and best young prospects heading into what is surely going to be a busy summer in the transfer market.

“When I arrived here and you got feedback from players, agents and other clubs, it was not always easy,” Röhl said. “But now you see more and more, a lot of people recognising what we are doing and how we can improve young players and give them a platform for the next step. It could be a key moment for us in the summer. Premier League clubs could see they have some good, young players and that the players can improve at our club very well. I think we should use this.”

A standout case in point is that of Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper James Beadle, who was signed on loan in January and kept eight clean sheets in 27 matches for the Owls. Wednesday, who are understood to be keen on re-signing the England youth international heading into next season, hope his rapid of arc of improvement can serve as a selling point when it comes to negotiations with elite clubs.

The club’s high-pressure standing offers clubs the opportunity to test young players, with Röhl building a ‘high performance culture’ at S6. Beadle was signed partly due to the appointment of his former Brighton coach Sal Bibbo. He’s one of several well-respected coaches in the Wednesday set up.

Röhl continued: “James knows what he has got from us as an environment, the improvement he has had with us, how we improved as a team. I think there is a good opportunity to bring high potential players here, to give them the next step and make them better, prepare them for the future and develop their football side but also the human side.

“For me James is a great example, he has made the step from League One to the Championship, but not just any Championship club, he has learned what it is to fight to stay in the league, to come back from some problems, to stay up. James in this case has been really, really strong and his mindset at this age is outstanding. When you see how calm he is it is fantastic.

“Maybe there is pressure, maybe some decisions are not the right ones but you do not get the feeling he is a young man who is doing this for the first time, he feels like an experienced one. It's great to see and hopefully we can give some new young players this opportunity to improve and develop in the future.”