Upon signing Seedorf’s teammate, Sheffield Wednesday made a shocking move.

With this victory, Sheffield Wednesday delivered an absolute bombshell.

In January, Sheffield Wednesday’s transfer activity brought excitement to Hillsborough when things were gloomy. Ike Ugbo came in quickly on loan and scored six goals in his eleven Championship games.

Although Ian Poveda, a talented and daring winger signed on loan, has also been a breath of fresh air, the Owls haven’t always been as successful in the past when bringing in new talent.

In January, Sheffield Wednesday’s transfer activity brought excitement to Hillsborough when things were gloomy. Ike Ugbo came in quickly on loan and scored six goals in his eleven Championship games.

Although Ian Poveda, a talented and daring winger signed on loan, has also been a breath of fresh air, the Owls haven’t always been as successful in the past when bringing in new talent.

Why Urby Emanuelson was signed by Sheffield Wednesday
It’s not shocking to learn that Urby Emanuelson, a former Ajax player, struggled at Hillsborough given how little football he had played before unexpectedly relocating to England.

Before joining Wednesday in unfortunate circumstances, the Dutchman would only make a total of 33 games for his former clubs, Hellas Verona, AS Roma, and Atalanta. He would also wind up becoming a no-show.

The five-foot-nine midfielder, who had 106 games for AC Milan before everything broke apart in South Yorkshire, had been in circles for a long time at Ajax and in Italy. The Owls were just blinded by these situations.

Emanuelson Serie A debut for AC Milan
Calcio Catania 0-2 Milan, January 2011
1. GK – Christian Abbiati
2. RB – Daniele Bonera
3. CB – Thiago Silva
4. CB – Mario Yepes
5. LB – Luca Antonini
6. CM – Massimo Ambrosini
7. CM – Marc Van Bommel
8. CM – Alexander Merkel (Urby Emanuelson subbed on)
9. SS – Robinho
10. SS – Antonio Cassano
11. ST – Zlatan Ibrahimovic

It must have been a culture shock for Emanuelson adjusting to the demands of Championship football away from the luxuries of playing alongside icons such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, in a move that ultimately saw the versatile Dutchman leave Hillsborough as abruptly as he entered.

Sheffield Wednesday’s statistics for Urby Emanuelson

The five-foot-nine former Rossoneri player was first seen as a wise acquisition because of his versatility, which allowed him to line up in midfield and defense at the San Siro whenever he was needed to cover for injuries.

But Emanuelson, who ended up making just one appearance for the Owls before being released at the end of the 2016–17 season, would never show Wednesday this kind of adaptability.

The former Ajax player’s dismal one-season tenure wasn’t helped by his ongoing injury problems, but given that he only ever played 16 minutes in a Wednesday uniform, the move has to be viewed as a complete bust. Everyone with ties to the Owls was happy to see Emanuelson and Wednesday cut ties when it happened. According to Capology, he earned £25k per week during that same miserable campaign, pocketing the same healthy pay packet as Fernando Forestieri and nearly twice that of a rising Barry Bannan.

While the Owls were left to learn a good lesson about not squandering money on players who had once dazzled the limelight, Emanuelson went on to patch up his career back in his native Netherlands with FC Utrecht.

Moving forward to the present, Danny Rohl and company will be hoping that players like Ugbo and Poveda remain for the whole of this season in order to establish themselves as Wednesday heroes and avoid being forgotten, much like Emanuelson.