Sheffield Wednesday could repeat transfer trick this summer amid Colby Bishop interest
Sheffield Wednesday, as revealed by The Star, are interested in signing Portsmouth striker Colby Bishop this summer.
One of the themes of Sheffield Wednesday’s last two summer transfer windows as a League One club has been to go out and sign a proven goalscorer.
Following relegation from the Championship in 2021, Wednesday, ahead of the start of the 2021/22 season, went out and recruited Lee Gregory, signing him from Stoke City.
The now-37-year-old, who called time on his playing career last September, had previously established himself as a reliable League One goalscorer, scoring 38 goals in his two previous third tier campaigns prior to moving to Hillsborough in August 2021.
The striker soon justified Wednesday’s decision to recruit an experienced League One goal-getter, scoring 17 goals in his first season at Hillsborough, as the Owls narrowly missed out on an immediate return to the Championship after losing 2-1 on aggregate to Sunderland at the semi-final stage of the play-offs.
Following that setback, Wednesday, in a bid to get back into to the Championship at the second time of asking, went out and recruited Michael Smith from Rotherham United. After turning down a new deal at the New York Stadium, he swapped one corner of South Yorkshire for another, moving to Hillsborough on a free transfer.
Smith, just like Gregory the previous summer, arrived at Hillsborough boasting an impressive League One record, having previously scored 61 goals in the third tier. The season that had preceded his move to S6 had seen him net 18 league goals for Rotherham, helping them seal automatic promotion to the Championship.
Smith, who is now at Preston North End, did exactly what the Owls signed him to do in his maiden season at Hillsborough, scoring 20 goals across all competitions to help fire Wednesday to promotion. Of those 20 goals, 17 were scored across the regular League One campaign and the play-offs, meaning he has scored 78 League One goals in his career.
Ahead of the forthcoming campaign, Wednesday do not currently have a striker on their books that has a proven goalscoring record in England’s third tier. Jamal Lowe has previously scored 21 goals in League One, but he is not a player you would describe as an out-and-out No.9.
Portsmouth striker Colby Bishop you would, though. The Star revealed on Saturday that Wednesday are interested in signing the 29-year-old, who has two years remaining on his contract at Fratton Park.
Wednesday are, of course, in the process of rebuilding their squad this summer following relegation from the Championship, and there is no doubt the attacking department needs fresh blood injecting into it.
Bishop, just like Smith and Gregory, boasts an impressive League One record, scoring 72 goals in England’s third tier. After scoring 31 goals across three seasons for Accrington Stanley - scoring 10, 10 and 11 - he moved to Portsmouth in July 2022 for an undisclosed fee.
His first season at Fratton Park, which saw him score on his Pompey debut against Wednesday in a 3-3 draw at Hillsborough on the opening day of the 2022/23 season, was made up of 24 goals across all competitions, including 20 in League One.
Bishop went one better in 2023/24, scoring 21 League One goals to fire Portsmouth to the league title. It means he has reached double figures in each of his last five League One campaigns.
Playing in the Championship for the first time in his career in 2024/25, Bishop plundered an impressive 11 goals to help Pompey beat the drop in their first season back in the second tier since 2011/12. It was an achievement made all the more special considering he had missed the first three months of the season after undergoing open-heart surgery during the summer.
Last season, the goals dried up for the former Notts County man, as he scored just three times in 42 Championship outings, but he retained the backing of boss John Mousinho, who frequently outlined that he brings more than just goals to the table.
With two years left on his contract, Pompey are not going to let Bishop leave for small change. The Fratton Park outfit, however, are understood to be planning to upgrade their attacking options this summer.
Whether a move for Bishop will come to fruition remains to be seen. The summer transfer window is long and, at times, complicated. However, as past history has taught us, there is value in signing a proven League One goalscorer.