"It will be tough if we don't" Sheffield Wednesday figure Yan Valery honest on imminent EFL ruling
An EFL ruling on whether Sheffield Wednesday will be allowed to bring in free agents over the international break will be one players are keeping a close eye on, suggested Owls midfield man Yan Valery.
Wednesday are hopeful of being given the green light to bring in ‘one or two’ new players on free agent terms, but require the permission of football authorities to soften recruitment restrictions that have left them unable to make new signings outside of exceptional circumstances.
The club have made the argument that vastly improved cashflow forecasts should allow a modest strengthening of the squad after the spiralling financial circumstances of Dejphon Chansiri’s final months left the playing squad decimated and football staff hamstrung.
Speaking to The Star after Wednesday evening’s draw with Norwich City, senior man Valery made no secret of the boost a couple of new bodies would provide to a squad that manager Henrik Pedersen has not been able to rotate a great deal this season. Valery himself is likely to miss a few weeks action through his involvement in Tunisia’s AFCON campaign.
“That would be really important,” he said. “We need really good players and experienced players.
“There's a lot of really good free agents so we'll see what happens. That would be really important, especially in December with all the games we're going to have. If we have injuries or if people are tired you need to have a good bench. It would be really important.
“It will be tough if we don't get anyone in. We have really good (young) players and we've seen that in the cup so we trust them but sometimes you need a bit of experience as well. It would be a big help to get some players before January but we will see what happens.”
A back-and-forth clash with Norwich saw both sides squander chances to win the game before it ended in a 1-1 draw. Wednesday offered their finest attacking performance of the campaign in front of a crowd packed out after a major push on ticket sales. A trip to Valery’s former club Southampton comes this weekend as the third match of a busy week, with the 26-year-old keen to build on the midweek performance at S6.
He said: “We all wanted the three points, especially with all the chances we created, so it is tough to just take the one point. But we are unbeaten in two games and if you look at the first half, we are stronger than earlier in the season. But it was disappointing because we wanted to give everyone a win.
“The fans are the best. They are just the best. You could feel it when sometimes we were missing the ball, missing passes, the fans were so with us and it was definitely good for us in the head. It was amazing, I loved it.”