“A sign of intent” – Does recent business make Sheffield Wednesday automatic promotion favourites? The verdict

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Sheffield Wednesday completed the double signing of Michael Ihiekwe and Michael Smith from Rotherham United, both on free transfers, on Wednesday evening.

Will Vaulks, Ben Heneghan and David Stockdale have also entered the fray at Hillsborough in the last few weeks, as Darren Moore looks to assemble a squad to kick on towards automatic promotion.

The Owls produced produced an excellent second half to the season and will see the top six as a minimum requirement heading into the new campaign.

We gathered the thoughts of a selection of FLW writers to see if they believe that the double signing makes Wednesday favourites for a top two finish…

Josh Cole

When you consider that the Owls have made an incredibly strong start to their transfer business this summer, they ought to be already considered as legitimate contenders for automatic promotion ahead of the upcoming campaign.

Having recently secured the services of Ben Heneghan, David Stockdale and Will Vaulks, Wednesday sent out a real signal of intent yesterday by signing Smith and Ihiekwe.

Both of these players helped Rotherham seal promotion last season by delivering a host of impressive performances in the third tier.

Smith provided 24 direct goal contributions at this level while Ihiekwe averaged an impressive WhoScored match rating of 7.22 in League One.

If this duo are able to hit the ground running at Hillsborough, they could help Wednesday launch a push for a top two finish.

Carla Devine

They’ve got to be up there because these are two great signings from