Former Sheffield Wednesday man Lucas Joao linked with Premier League switch – could land Owls financial windfall

Lucas Joao left Wednesday in 2019 to join then-fellow Championship side Reading for what was believed to be a club-record sale.

And now the Portuguese is reportedly attracting interest from a number of clubs as the Royals look to balance the books after they were deducted points for breaching its profitability and sustainability rules last season.

Nottingham Forest, promoted to the Premier League over the weekend through the play-offs, are among the sides said to be interested in grabbing a bargain.

Several second tier teams, namely Norwich City, Watford, Burnley and Middlesbrough are also reportedly keen on his signature.

Any transfer could deliver a windfall to Wednesday, who negotiated a 20 per cent sell-on bonus in the sale of Joao.

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This means the Owls would receive a full 20 per cent of any permanent fee received by Reading this summer, a windfall that could offer Darren Moore a welcome swelling of his transfer coffers.

The move from Wednesday to Reading was understood to have been worth around £5m. Though no potential fee has reported this time around, Reading are open to offers for a 28-year-old who has scored 38 goals and laid on 14 assists in 83 matches for the Berkshire club.

Wednesday are busy in the transfer market, Darren Moore told in-house media last week, and are in contact with a number of targets.

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