How Sheffield Wednesday persuaded Michael Ihiekwe to leave Rotherham United for Hillsborough

The 29-year-old is one of only a handful of players to have played all 180 minutes of Wednesday's opening two games in League One, and he appears to have settled in well at Hillsborough following his move across South Yorkshire.

It was a surprise for many when the long-serving Rotherham captain decided to make the switch to S6, but he says that the Owls manager played a large role in helping him make his choice of next club – as were the supporters of the club.

Speaking to The Star ahead of the visit of Charlton Athletic this weekend, the former Liverpool academy man spoke about choosing Wednesday, and admitted that he was really impressed by what Moore had to say about his project at Wednesday.

He told The Star, "For me, because I’ve played around here for years, the size of the fanbase went without saying. He spoke about it, but I knew about the size of the club and their ambition. It all goes together with the fans included, so he didn’t really need to sell that to me.

“When we had the first home game, though, you really do go like, ‘Wow’. And you realise the support that this team has got - and we have to use that to you advantage.”

He also said, “The manager really impressed me with his vision, and his ambitions, and the way he wants to play. I saw it as another challenge for me.

“I had a brilliant time at Rotherham, I was there for five years, but it was important for me to stay motivated and as soon as I spoke to him I was really excited about the project, and obviously the size of the club is huge. It got me excited, so it was a mixture of things.”

Ihiekwe is expected to start once again this weekend when Charlton Athletic come to town, and he’ll be desperate to add another clean sheet to his tally.

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