What Sheffield Wednesday youngster Matt Penney has said about his 'incredible' season of development in Germany so far

The 22-year-old, who arrived to re-join former Owls bos Jos Luhukay on a season-long loan, has struggled with injury for much of the season but has impressed, scoring a memorable goal in their historic 2-0 win over fierce city rivals Hamburg.

“I always said to myself that at some point, I would love to play abroad and experience a different culture,” Penney said.

“St Pauli did not win any of their first few games and I was asked if I fancied it. It was a no-brainer as it was a great opportunity. Hamburg is a great city and a lovely place to live.”

“The supporters here are incredible. I have been having quite a few mates come over and watch the games but if I cannot get any more tickets, it is difficult as they do not go on general sale. All the games are sold out.

“We have a few games left and now, I just hope we can return to the season although, we all know that at the moment, some things are more important.”

Penney’s contract is up this summer and asked about his future at the club current boss Garry Monk told The Star he was close to recalling him over Christmas. He had left the club by the time Monk was unveiled as Wednesday boss in September.

“The plan was to have a good look at him but unfortunately when he came back he picked up a slight injury in that time,” Monk said back in February.

“He was probably only in training for three or four days before we had to give a decision on whether he goes back or not, so that wasn’t long enough to really see him.

“I’ve seen Matt before, but four days isn’t enough to judge whether he can help right here and right now.

“Plus there’s the fact that is he’s out there playing regularly, out of his comfort zone, in another country – I like that. I like that experience and I didn’t want to take that experience away from him.”

Wednesday have been left short at times at left-back, with Morgan Fox missing four matches through injury during the club’s downturn in fortunes in 2020.

“He’s someone that come the summer, we want to have a good look and give him the opportunity to show what he can do,” Monk said.

“It could be potentially a good fit. The age is good, the mentality is good, the profile for him is really, really good.

“Off the back of a season’s experience out of his comfort zone, we could be dealing with a totally different player to the one that left. That excites me.

“I spoke to Matt about the plans for him. I didn’t want to take that [the experience of playing abroad] away without the certainty of whether he was going to play here or not.”