Yesterday, Sheffield Wednesday officially announced that striker Josh Windass had left the club following the termination of his contract by mutual consent. Windass had joined the Owls – initially on loan – in 2020. In the time following his arrival, he was able to make 182 appearances scoring on 53 occasions.
The departure of Windass comes off the back of several months of turmoil and uncertainty at Hillsborough. This has seen players not being paid and transfer embargos being placed on the club.
Now, the 31-year-old’s future club is uncertain with many clubs thought to be interested by the prospect of the striker’s services. With this being considered, here are three clubs who Josh Windass could join this summer.
Bristol City
Our first option falls in the form of current EFL Championship side Bristol City. The Robins are coming off the back of a sixth place finish last season which ended in play-off heartbreak against Sheffield United.
Therefore, with the right recruitment, the second-tier side will be hoping they can push on and fight for promotion next season. But, with the loss of key man Nahki Wells who has recently joined Luton Town, their squad is arguably weaker.
Furthermore, the loss of Wells has left the club with only three recognisable strikers – Sinclair Armstrong, Fally Mayulu and Emil Riis Jakobsen. This is arguably not enough depth for Gerhard Struber’s 4-4-2/4-3-1-2 set-up.
This would make the acquisition of Windass useful for the Ashton Gate outfit.
If the striker was to join the club, he would be the oldest of Bristol City’s recognised strikers. But, this would also make him the most experienced.
This is experience that could be valuable in advising younger strikers such as Armstrong and Mayulu.
Finally, this experience would aid Windass in his goal-scoring situations but would also aid a Bristol City side that only scored 59 times last season – the second lowest of the EFL Championship’s top six finishers.
Rangers
Our second club is current Scottish Premiership side Rangers who Windass has played for before. The 31-year-old’s previous spell with the Scottish side fell between July 2016 and August 2018. In this time, he was able to make 73 appearances and was able to score 19 times.
Rangers’ new manager Russell Martin typically played with a number of formations including the 5-3-2 and the 4-3-1-2 during his time at Southampton. The key thing to recognise here is that these formations feature two strikers.
Currently, Rangers only have three main strikers – Cyriel Dessers, Hamza Igamane and Danilo. There is also two other players – Tom Lawrence and Thelo Aasgaard – who can play in the striker role but their main roles are in other areas of the pitch.
With this being considered, there is arguably not enough depth in the striker role for the demands of Martin’s set-ups. This would mean the addition of Josh Windass to the Rangers side would make sense.
Furthermore, through signing Windass, Russell Martin would be bringing a well experienced and immensely talented striker to the club who knows where the goal is from his time at Sheffield Wednesday.
Therefore, this is a move that makes sense for both parties and something that could actually happen.
Wigan Athletic
Our final club is current EFL League One side Wigan Athletic. As was the case with Rangers, Windass and Wigan have been associated before due to the striker’s time at the club between 2018 and 2020.
Ryan Lowe’s side will be looking to improve on their 15th place finish in EFL League One last season. To do this, recruitment is needed.
Already, we can see that Athletic have recruited in the striker position with Wrexham star Paul Mullin moving to the club. But, with Lowe’s two striker setup, the addition of Windass would provide more depth to the position.
Furthermore, it would provide Wigan with someone who has previously been promoted from the third tier. This is because of Windass’ promotion with Sheffield Wednesday in the 2022-23 season.
This experience would be invaluable to a Latics side looking to get promoted out of EFL League One next season. As well as this, the 31-year-old’s goal-scoring ability would be useful to a Wigan side that scored just 40 times last season – the lowest of any team in the third tier.
Therefore, this move would provide depth, quality and ambition to Ryan Lowe’s Wigan Athletic side.
Which Club Should Josh Windass Join?
Each of the three clubs named would benefit from the signing of Windass. But, should he join any of the three teams? Or, should he join another team we haven’t named?
Let us know in the comments below.
