Sheffield Wednesday must avoid a repeat of disaster Arsenal deal | OneFootball

It did not work out for striker Tyreece John-Jules after joining Sheffield Wednesday on loan from Arsenal in January 2022.

It is fair to say that Sheffield Wednesday have had a mixed record in the transfer market under owner Dejphon Chansiri.

Chansiri bought Wednesday for £37.5 million from Milan Mandaric in January 2015, and he invested heavily in the early stages of his ownership as he looked to achieve his goal of leading the club back to the Premier League within two years.

The Owls came incredibly close to meeting Chansiri's target as they were beaten in the Championship play-offs in two consecutive seasons under Carlos Carvalhal in 2016 and 2017, but after failing to reach the promised land, the big spending had devastating consequences.

While there were a number of strong signings during the Carvalhal era, there were also some high-profile flops, most notably the club-record £10 million deal that saw striker Jordan Rhodes arrive from Middlesbrough and the infamous £4 million signing of midfielder Almen Abdi from Watford.

Wednesday suffered the ultimate punishment for their spending as they were given a six-point deduction that resulted in relegation to League One in 2021, and Chansiri has certainly taken a much more cautious approach in the transfer market since then.

However, that does not mean to say that there have not been any failed transfer deals in recent years, and the loan signing of striker Tyreece John-Jules from Arsenal in January 2022 was one to forget.

Darren Moore, Tyreece John-Jules reunion looked promising for Sheffield Wednesday

While John-Jules never made a senior appearance for Arsenal, he was highly-rated at the Emirates Stadium, which is underlined by the fact he was taken on the club's pre-season tour of the United States by Unai Emery in 2019 and included on the bench for the Community Shield win over Liverpool in 2020.

John-Jules was loaned out to Lincoln City in January 2020 before spending the 2020-21 season with Doncaster Rovers, where he worked with former Wednesday manager Darren Moore, and while his time at the Eco-Power Stadium was disrupted by injury, he showed plenty of potential.

After two loan spells in League One, John-Jules made the step up to the Championship when he made a temporary move to newly-promoted Blackpool in the summer of 2021, but he failed to score in 12 appearances for the Seasiders, and his time at Bloomfield Road was cut short in January.

With his career at something of a crossroads, John-Jules then dropped back down to the third tier when he joined Wednesday on loan a few weeks later, and there was plenty of excitement about what he could achieve after reuniting with Moore.

After a decent start to life in League One following relegation, the Owls sat just outside the play-off places at the halfway point of the season, but with the likes of Saido Berahino, Florian Kamberi, Callum Paterson and Sylla Sow struggling for form, much of the goalscoring burden fell on Lee Gregory, and Moore would have been hoping that John-Jules could help ease the pressure on the former Millwall man.

Tyreece John-Jules' Sheffield Wednesday loan spell was a nightmare

After arriving at Hillsborough in the final week of the January transfer window, John-Jules made his debut for Wednesday as a second half substitute in their 1-0 home win over Ipswich Town.

It was a big victory for the Owls against one of their play-off rivals, and supporters were pleased to get a first glimpse of their new signing in action, but just days later, it emerged that John-Jules had suffered a quad injury that would result in an extended period on the sidelines.

Unfortunately for John-Jules, his injury turned out to be much more serious than the initial prognosis suggested, and he did not make a single further appearance for Wednesday or even feature in the matchday squad again, meaning he played a total of just 18 minutes during his loan spell.

John-Jules' absence was not too costly for the Owls as they went on to secure a fourth-placed finish in League One, but their promotion dreams were crushed as they were beaten by Sunderland in the play-off semi-finals.

Despite his underwhelming stint in South Yorkshire, John-Jules managed to secure a loan move to Ipswich Town in the summer of 2022, and ahead of his side's meeting with the Tractor Boys, Moore expressed his regret that Wednesday supporters "didn’t see the true potential of him".

To add insult to injury, John-Jules would help Ipswich achieve automatic promotion at the Owls' expense during the 2022-23 season, with the 23-year-old scoring three goals and providing one assist in 21 games for Kieran McKenna's men.

John-Jules won another promotion from League One during his injury-hit loan spell at Derby County last season, but he was released by Arsenal in the summer, and he joined Crawley Town on a free transfer in October.