The important Sheffield Wednesday recruitment figure helping Darren Moore after key Owls exit

Downes was the club’s Head of Recruitment and Analysis for four years having been brought in by Steve Bruce in 2019, but departed for Blackpool this month to take on the role of Sporting Director at the League One outfit.

Ever since his arrival at S6 Moore has been front and centre in terms of new signings for the Owls, using his considerable draw to persuade a number of players over the last couple of seasons to drop down into League One in order to aid their promotion push – however Downs also played a major part in their recruitment sector.

Now, with Downes gone, it’s thought that Dean Hughes, Wednesday’s Head of Technical Analysis and Recruitment Analysis, is working alongside Moore as they identify targets for the 2023/24 campaign, despite Hughes having come on board at the same time as their former Head of Recruitment. They also worked together at Hull City and Aston Villa.

With both joining the Owls in 2019 under Bruce there had been some who questioned whether Hughes would also join him at Blackpool, however The Star understands that he is still very much in the thick of things at S6 preparing for what will be a tough campaign in the Championship.

Moore had said that he’d be having meetings with chairman, Dejphon Chansiri, to discuss the way forward this summer, only then will they be able to push forward with regards to new signings.