Sheffield Wednesday boss quizzed on transfer budget, Owls loans and ‘good meetings’

The Owls boss is eager to make amendments to his squad this month in order to give them the best chance of survival in the Championship, and though nothing’s come to fruition just yet it would appear that it’s not through lack of trying.

"We are still in good meetings and talks,” Röhl explained. “There are always three parts, there’s the new player, the old club and the new one about speaking to find agreements… We are still working and hopefully, we can sign some players in the next days, for sure. We will try our best. Hopefully, we will make the right decisions.

"For me, it’s important we make some quick transfers and have the players immediately here. But you never know what happens. Sometimes, you think, ‘Now, we are very close’ and then something new happens.

"We have a shortlist, for sure, with some good players. Let’s see if we can bring the players to Wednesday. We have delivered some good arguments and it is very helpful to come closer to the line… We will be proactive and will not wait for something to happen. We will be proactive to do something in the market.”

The only bit of movement at Hillsborough so far has been John Buckley’s departure after he was recalled from his loan by Blackburn Rovers, and there appears to be a chance that he won’t be the only loanee who has his time at Hillsborough cut short.

He went on to say, “I think it could happen that something happens with our loan players as well, when you look at how many players we have for the same position. You can see we are a little bit unbalanced and this is what we can change. January is a crazy time. Sometimes, you have to be very quick and sometimes, it takes more time.”

But what about budget? It’s something that many fans are eager to know about, but unfortunately the Owls boss was unable to give any details. It sounds like each potential target will be assessed based on their own merit, rather than a specific transfer budget being set out.

“I think it depends,” was Röhl’s response. “We haven’t spoken so much about the budget, we’ve spoken about how getting players that mix with our squad and make us better. If it’s a loan then that’s an option, if it’s to buy that’s also an option, for me it’s more about the quality of the players more than whether we spend money. It must be a good match and a good player for us with the right mentality. This is what I’m trying to do with the chairman as well.

“With Kevin (Beadell) I think we’re in a good process with our target players that we want, but you know in this transfer market it’s always about being patient and prepared and hopefully we can have some signings as soon as possible.”