Canada, goals and the virtue of patience: Inside Theo Corbeanu's Sheffield Wednesday switch

The 19-year-old attacker, whose season-long loan from Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers was announced on Monday afternoon, was a player the Owls have had their eye on for some time. Ideally he’d have been a part of the club’s vast preseason programme.

But the teenager was on a run to the Gold Cup semi-finals with his native Canada. Wednesday, and Moore, had to wait to get their man.

“We’re really pleased to have Theo,” Moore told The Star. “He’s a different type of attacking player and I’m really pleased to have him in.

“We wanted him in for the early part of the summer but obviously he had to go away with the Gold Cup, so we knew we had to be patient and wait for him.”

Canada only went out of the Gold Cup on Friday thanks to an agonising last minute semi-final defeat to Mexico.

And from that match in Houston, from London to Sheffield via a pit stop in the Midlands, Corbeanu got straight down to business at Middlewood Road training ground. Senior players were given the day off and so he is understood to have met his new teammates on Tuesday morning.

Moore said: “Hopefully he can get over his jet lag and everything else so we can get some training into him and get him ready.

“We’re really pleased, he gives us wonderful balance, he’s someone that can go either way off either foot, which will give defenders problems, he’s just as happy turning them outside as he is inside.

“He’s a young, up-and-coming player and we should delighted to have him here at Sheffield Wednesday. We did have competition in the league we’re in now. I just want to get him settled and integrated and let that talent flourish.”

Corbeanu is equally excited to show what he can do. A former Romanian youth international by virtue of his parents’ nationality, speaking to Wednesday’s official website he revealed a knowledge of the club going back to his youth.

“I’m hoping this is my breakout season,” he said. “It’s my first season of real men’s football and I’m just itching to go.

“Everyone knows, even in Canada, about the history of this club. I knew about Hillsborough and watched some Wednesday games as a kid, the atmosphere is unreal.

“When I found out this was an option, I was really excited and happy.”

So is Corbeanu nailed-on for a debut at Charlton Athletic on Saturday? Moore kept his cards close to his chest, but suggested there should be patience when it comes to the youngster.

“Let’s not put too much on him too soon,” he said. “He’s been playing in the Gold Cup, he’s had to get over. We’ll see hoe the next few days go. I don’t want to put too much on him too soon.

“We’ll see the next couple of days, if I feel he’s ready to go he could well be included on Saturday, but I won’t make any hasty decisions, I’ll just see how he goes over the next few days in training.”

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