Sheffield Wednesday massively hit the jackpot with £3m star and these 5 others.

Sheffield Wednesday’s transfer record has been inconsistent over the years.

Wednesday have had a rocky decade since owner Dejphon Chansiri’s takeover in January 2015. They have missed out on promotion to the Premier League twice, been relegated to League One, and recently promoted to the Championship.

As one might anticipate in such an active period, there have been a lot of transfer disasters, notably in the early phases of the Chansiri era, some of which came at a high cost to the club.

While some players have underperformed at Hillsborough, others have established themselves as genuine fan favourites, and we looked back at some of the Owls’ best buys in recent years.

Wednesday supporters frequently mention Keiren Westwood as the best goalie they’ve seen play for the club.

Incredibly, the Owls signed Westwood on a free transfer in the summer of 2014 following his departure from Sunderland. He went on to keep an impressive 73 clean sheets in 199 appearances for the club.

Westwood’s stint at Hillsborough was not without controversy, as he was benched on two occasions by Jos Luhukay and Garry Monk, although this did little to harm his reputation among fans.

The 40-year-old was released by Wednesday in the summer of 2021 after their relegation to League One. He is regarded warmly in South Yorkshire and is one of only three players to have won the Player of the Year accolade on numerous occasions during their time at the club.

Sam Hutchinson

Despite a limited budget, Stuart Gray’s tenure as Wednesday manager resulted in the discovery of several talented players, including midfielder Sam Hutchinson.

Hutchinson, who had only recently returned to football after retiring due to a knee injury, was viewed as a short-term gamble when he joined the Owls on loan from Chelsea in February 2014, but few could have guessed the impact he would have.

Hutchinson’s impressive loan spell was made permanent in the summer of 2014, and he was an important component of the side that came close to promotion to the Premier League twice under Carlos Carvalhal, endearing himself to fans with his devoted and determined performances.

Hutchinson, like Westwood, fell out of favour with both Luhukay and Monk, and was released by the latter in the summer of 2020, only to return to Hillsborough six months later.

Hutchinson’s second term at Wednesday was not as memorable as his first, but he remained a steady and reliable performer. He departed for the final time in the summer of 2022, having scored eight goals and provided six assists in 207 games.

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