The Sheffield Wednesday man poised for promotion
He’s still got another year left on his deal with Sheffield Wednesday, and next season could be the year that young Manuel Hidalgo makes his breakthrough at Hillsborough.
The 21-year-old winger, who can also play behind the forward line through the middle, joined the Owls from Triestina in Italy at the start of the year, and spent the first three months of 2020 with the club’s U23s before COVID-19 brought football to a standstill.
Now, with Hidalgo back at work, The Star understands that – as things stand – the plan is to start ingratiating him into the senior squad during preseason ahead of the 2020/21 campaign as he seeks a first team debut in blue and white stripes in the not-so-distant future.
The young attacker is said to have impressed in the games that he has played so far, and will no doubt have been buoyed by the fact that players such as Osaze Hurhoghide and Alex Hunt – also from the academy – managed to step up into Garry Monk’s senior team this season.
Monk has spoken regularly of how he’s looking to the future of the club in his plans going forward, and contract renewals for the likes of Declan Thompson and Josh Render certainly seem to be in line with that.
Hidalgo, a product of Benfica’s famed academy, now has to get his head down for the remainder of this season in the U23s in order to book his spot in Monk’s preseason plans ahead of the Owls’ next campaign.
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