Loan Watch: How is forgotten Sheffield Wednesday man getting on?
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The 26-year-old centre back enjoyed a promising start to his career at Hillsborough following a big-money move in 2017, but an ankle injury sustained after a nasty tackle from Sunderland’s Luke O'Nien at the start of the 2018/19 season meant that he went four months before his next senior game.
After making just one Championship appearance in 2018/19, Van Aken went out on loan to VfL Osnabrück this season as he went in search of more regular game time, and he’s certainly managed to get that. His 90 minutes over the weekend against Arminia Bielefeld seeing him pass the 1800-minute mark for the season, and he’s played 21 games so far.
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Hide AdVan Aken got his first – and only – goal of the season in a 3-0 win over Karlsruher back in September, and has been utilised mainly as a left-sided centre back by head coach, Daniel Thioune, with only three players having
In terms of the statistics, Van Aken is averaging more passes per game (48.3) than any of his teammates, and also has one of the highest pass success rates (81.6%) at his club, while his 5.1 clearances per game puts him in fourth place in the entire 2. Bundesliga.
Granted, he may be playing in a different division to his Wednesday counterparts, but he is averaging more passes and clearances than Tom Lees, Dominic Iorfa and Julian Börner, though his average tackles per game (1) is less than all three.
The Dutchman does have one more year left on his contract at Wednesday, having signed a four-year deal when he joined three years ago, but it remains to be seen whether he will be part of Garry Monk’s plans in what is set to be a refreshed Owls side in 2020/21.
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Hide AdHe recently admitted that he’s not sure where his future lies – be that in Sheffield or elsewhere – but for now he’ll be focused on finishing the season strongly with Osnabrück so that he can set himself up nicely for whatever comes next.