Davis Keillor-Dunn's Sheffield Wednesday delay explained - why only a half-season deal and their big advantage
Sheffield Wednesday’s business in the transfer window is complete.
Davis Keillor-Dunn is a Sheffield Wednesday player after his loan switch from Wrexham was confirmed on Thursday, two days on from the closure of the transfer window.
The 28-year-old goal-getter was an early days target for Wednesday in a manic transfer window that for much of the summer left any chance of a deal looking highly unlikely. But after unique circumstances fell in the Owls’ favour on deadline day, the former Barnsley favourite signed for the club on loan terms until the end of January - initially at least.
It’s a deal that has raised questions since it became a possibility just hours from the closure of the transfer window - here’s a fulsome explanation of how things came about and why.
Why has it taken so long to confirm?
It’s been understood that any sign of a potential deal became clear around Tuesday lunchtime and a rapid process to get the attacker across from North Wales to complete the deal was put into action as late as early Tuesday evening - ahead of the 11pm deadline.
As previously reported by The Star, the long delay in confirmation of the deal is understood to have rested with FIFA for some time as it went through a clearance procedure - though confidence that it would go through was always apparent. Wrexham’s status as an EFL club does not supersede their geography and so as a club registered to the Welsh FA, international clearance was required to officially ratify the deal. Even when the deal was publicly confirmed, Wrexham’s release made clear it was ‘subject to international clearance and registrations.’
On Thursday afternoon Keillor-Dunn made clear that Hillsborough would be his preferred destination amid interest elsewhere and work between the two clubs started in earnest. Within hours The Star understands that the player had indicated to friends that he would become a Wednesday player. With the likes of Simon Wilson and David Bruce already committed to Buckingjamshire to watch the Owls’ clash with Wycombe Wanderers, the 28-year-old raced across to Yorkshire on Tuesday evening, completed media duties on Thursday and has spent some time with his new teammates this week.
Speaking to local media, sporting director Wilson explained the delay in announcing the deal, which eventually came at 6pm on Thursday, some 41 hours on from the closure of the window on Tuesday evening.
Speaking with delight at the signing, he said: “Every transfer has to go through a number of administrative processes and the fact that Wrexham are seen as an international club, even though they play in the EFL, puts an extra hurdle or stage to that process. We're really looking forward to having him as part of the group.”
Why the January cut-off date? And what next?
Keillor-Dunn’s arrival on a loan until the end of January has raised some eyebrows given clubs’ modern day preference for season-long arrangements with the option of a midwinter break clause. Wednesday have operated to a recruitment ceiling throughout a manic summer that has seen them welcome 18 senior players through the door - with Wilson joking that he has at times felt more like an accountant than a transfer guru in the last months such have been the mathematics required.
Explaining the reason for the length of the Keillor-Dunn loan, Wilson said the initial offering effectively maxed-out what was available to them: “Being totally honest, it was the capacity we had in our budget,” he said. “We emptied the piggy bank and gave everything we could do. Credit to Wrexham, they had higher offers. Davis had other options but was really adamant he only wanted to come and play for Sheffield Wednesday.”
Though the length of the loan doesn’t guarantee Keillor-Dunn’s involvement at Wednesday until the end of the season, the Owls hold a major advantage when it comes to his fate entering the January transfer window thanks to a FIFA ruling.
Under their standard Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP), a footballer may be registered with a maximum of three clubs during a single season (running from 1 July to 30 June), but is only eligible to play official matches for two of them. The former Barnsley man played twice for Wrexham in the early stages of the season, meaning that a switch elsewhere beyond January would be futile once he makes his Wednesday debut. Should all go to plan, the Owls are expected to explore a renewal when it comes to it.
“It's clear that he can only play for us or Wrexham,” Wilson said. “At this stage, he's outside of the Wrexham squad and one of the reasons he's available for loan is because him and the club feel like they'd be better off getting minutes elsewhere.
“This is the debate that we had; is having Davis around our group until January a good thing or a bad thing? Net-net, we thought it was a good thing. What happens after that will happen after that. I’m in full control of that situation. The odds are somewhat in our favour in the sense that he can't go to another League One team. If he is in League One, then he's going to be with us should we decide to do that too on our side. It was an opportunistic one that came out late.
“We had to think, did it work? We got to the conclusion that it would do and we're going to have a go at it. Hopefully, it can be a positive loan for us, for Davis and for Wrexham.”
How the deal got done
The swift nature of the deal cannot be understated. Initial enquiries into Keillor-Dunn’s availability raised promise but, as previously reported by The Star, restrictions rendered a deal unlikely as things moved further into the summer. Once a player with 42 direct goal involvements in 88 League One appearances became available, Wednesday moved fast and were helped along by relationships at Wrexham - as well as the players’ desire to join the club.
“He is a well-known player at this level of football, as a player that's consistently performed to a really, really high level, scoring a lot of goals and being a really, really effective player,” Wilson said. “So when we started to think about putting a squad together for football at this level, of course, he was somebody that we spoke about.
“We were told early on that that was unlikely to happen. So we've built a squad not necessarily looking for him and looking for that position. However, we got ourselves in a situation where that became available on deadline day and we were jumped on the phone and said, what do we do? Should we do it? Should we not do it? And we felt like it was something that we had to have to try and do.”
Recruitment at Wednesday has been a collaborative process throughout the summer. An existing relationship between Owls head of recruitment Kevin Beadell and Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson helped grease the wheels of getting a deal done, as did that of Wednesday CEO and Wrexham CEO Michael Williamson, who know one another from their shared time working in the MLS.
“We’re really pleased to have got it done,” Wilson continued. “Big shout out to a couple of people that were really influential in getting that done. That was Kevin Beadell, who's the head of recruitment here, whose relationship with Phil Parkinson was really helpful in getting the truth of the situation and being able to move quickly.
“And also David Bruce's relationship with Wrexham's CEO, that again, being able to talk very clearly about our situation, what we can and can't do and get to it very, very, very succinctly meant that we could move quickly to get the deal done.”
More than five loanees?
EFL rules rules do not cap the number of loan players a club can have on the books - though a maximum of five can be named in any matchday squad. With Harry Gray, Mason Burstow, Kieran Morrison, Ali Al-Hamadi and Jaden Heskey already signed heading into deadline day, Wednesday ultimately had a decision to make over whether to launch a bid to bring Keillor-Dunn in and provide themselves with a happy headache over squad selection.
All six would be considered bona fide first team players and the situation will have to be managed along the way. In a long, 46-match League One campaign Owls boss Henrik Pedersen explained that it was felt the overall strength of the squad was the most important factor - with the ability to bring impact players into the game a key one.
“You can have five and now we have six,” he said. “Of course it is a part to manage this. But I am sure we can find a good way to manage that. We can manage the rest of the squad. I also said in the dressing room today, ‘Guys, we have a strong, strong squad’. That means we can have a strong starting 11. But we can also have a strong bench and we can also have strong players outside.
“And this is a part to be a part of us now. And that is why we have a chance now to change early in the games because we have strong players in the game to have impact in the games. And I think we have good success with this until now.”