How Sheffield Wednesday pair got on as German football returns

Penney, 22, and Van Aken, 26, were both named in the starting XIs for St. Pauli and VfL Osnabrück respectively on Sunday, with their clubs going up against FC Nürnberg and Arminia Bielefeld.

In the end it was a pretty good day at the office for the pair – St. Pauli picked up a 1-0 win in their first game back, and Osnabrück left it late to grab a dramatic equaliser inside an empty stadium to secure a 1-1 draw with the 2. Bundesliga leaders.

While Van Aken have away a penalty, he also made the most clearances (9) and had a 100% tackle success rate - lasted 90 minutes, Penney made it to 68 minutes before being replaced by former Wednesday boss, Jos Luhukay.

The young Wednesday man had 41 touches, two shots and a pass success rate of 75%, and almost helped create a goal when his cross flashed across the box shortly before he came off.

Van Aken, meanwhile, finished the game with more touches than any other Osnabrück player and will have been happy to see the point take them up to 30 points and 13th place, three points behind Penney’s side in ninth.

Wednesday boss, Garry Monk, will be keeping a close eye on both as he weighs up their futures ahead of the 2020/21 season, with Penney’s Owls deal due to expire shortly and Van Aken entering into his final year.