Sheffield Wednesday to keep close eye on progress of ‘very skilful’ transfer option on loan in League Two

Wednesday fought off Championship interest in four of their key man in the final days of the window, which closed to English clubs last Thursday evening.

It was a quiet deadline day, with Wednesday’s only involvement seeing Alex Hunt make the permanent switch to League Two Grimsby Town.

Hunt was joined at Blundell Park by another name that will have been familiar to Wednesdayites in Keke Simmonds, who completed a loan move from second tier Brimingham City.

Former England youth international Simmonds is a name revealed by The Star to have been on the radar of the Owls’ recruitment team for some time, since his time as a youngster at Manchester City was coming to an end early last year.

An England youth international, the fleet-footed forward emerged as a potential transfer option for Wednesday once again this summer, but with deals struck for the likes of Mallik Wilks and Alex Mighten he ended up at Grimsby, where he will no doubt be closely watched by the Owls over the coming months.

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Simmonds made his Mariners debut over the weekend in a 2-0 away win at Newport County, coming on for the final 20 minutes while Hunt watched on from the bench.

Grimsby boss Paul Hurst is clearly a fan, saying: “He is a player that has clearly got ability.

“He was at Man City and has been involved with England but it hadn’t quite gone for him at City and went to Birmingham. Again, it probably hasn’t quite happened for him as yet but nobody is doubting the ability that the player has.

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“Hopefully, we can give him a platform to show that and give us again, more attacking options. He is quite a versatile player in the final third of the pitch so we will get him in, see where we can utilise him best but he is certainly a player who is very creative, very skilful and he can create and score goals, hopefully for us.”