Exclusive:Sheffield Wednesday interested in Aston Villa's ex-Manchester City man - update on teammate pursuit
Sheffield Wednesday are searching the loan market as they look to continue their transfer window progress.
Aston Villa appears to have been something of a hunting ground for Sheffield Wednesday this season, with another Villa Park youngster attracting the interest of the Owls, The Star can reveal.
Wednesday have already brought Sil Swinkels and Louie Barry across from the Midlands club on permanent transfers and have held talks over the potential loan acquisition of attacking wide man Tommi O’Reilly. The push comes amid the Owls’ effort to re-stock its changing room, with nine signings made in what has been a busy summer so far.
The Star understands that another name Wednesday are interested in is that of Kane Taylor, the former England youth international who spent time at Manchester City between a successful youth career with hometown club Villa. The left-footed 21-year-old plays mainly as a central midfielder but can also play in defence, either centrally or as a left-back. He spent the latter part of last season on loan in League Two with Oldham Athletic and made 16 appearances there, scoring twice and providing one assist.
The Owls are having to be prudent in their offering to clubs as they grow closer to a transfer fee limit agreed with the EFL as part of their exit from administration. This includes the payment of loan fees. Sporting director Simon Wilson is known to have a positive working relationship with Villa, though it is not yet known whether a registered interest in Taylor will materialise into something more advanced.
As previously reported, Wednesday have held talks over the loan signing of Taylor’s Villa youth teammate O’Reilly within the last week, though The Star’s understanding is that those discussions have not progressed over recent days and that momentum behind that potential deal has slowed.
Speaking to media this week, Owls boss Henrik Pedersen made clear a wide range of players were being considered across a number of positions as the club seek to add the final numbers to their vast summer recruitment project. He expressed an optimism that further solutions can be found.
“Of course, we still need some offensive players,” the Dane told media from their Budapest training camp earlier this week. “We still need a nine. We still need a right-sided winger. We still need more players. Simon (Wilson), Kevin (Beadell), the coaches, we help each other. We are working very, very hard to to find some really, really good solutions. I'm really happy with the players we have got, and if we can keep this level, then it's looking very positive.”
Wednesday’s pre-season programme continues with a behind-closed-doors clash with Stoke City in Vienna this afternoon.