Alan Biggs on Sheffield Wednesday new boy Ibrahim Cissoko

When he gets up to speed - and he has no shortage of that - Ibrahim Cissoko promises to be an exciting addition for Sheffield Wednesday. Dare I say, a potential matchwinner - with plenty of tight contests needing to be tilted if the Owls are to deliver the top six dream.

It’s a funny thing for a side said to be lacking quality. With Cissoko thrown in, they’ll have more of it individually than most. A double-edged sword, of course, for those who bemoan that the Owls have relied at times on flashes of brilliance.

But what these also show is a capacity to surprise opponents on a regular basis. Witness many magical moments from Djeidi Gassama and the Josh Windass wonder goal in his formidable repertoire this season.

Cissoko will be in good company in that respect, much as there will always be more focus on a new recruit.

Manager Danny Rohl calls the Dutch-born winger, 22 next month, a “good one-on-one player.”

Clubs always take recommendations on potential signings and I’ve heard in the background that Wednesday were given a strong one by Wayne Rooney, Cissoko’s boss while on loan at Plymouth.

Now you may not think much of Rooney as a manager, with Argyle the latest to sack him, but he sure knows talent when he sees it. Evidently Rooney rates Cissoko, on loan from Toulouse, among the best at this level for leaving opponents for dead.

Pace and trickery are his game - plus three goals in his 15 Plymouth appearances add a little space.

It gives Wednesday three players who are broadly of a type as wide operators, albeit that the third, Anthony Musaba, has yet to fire this season as he did before.

Certainly it would be hard to accommodate all three but Gassama on one side and Cissoko on the other could be a mouth-watering prospect.

They were swapped in the latter stages of last week’s win at Swansea, as Cissoko made his debut, and again in the home defeat to Coventry - but the options are exciting.

Can they play together? At some stage it’s worth a try. The Owls are in the unexpected position of having nothing to lose and everything to gain.