Sheffield Wednesday defender linked with surprise Champions League switch
Sheffield Wednesday’s Dominic Iorfa has one year left on his current Owls deal, but reports have suggested that he could still be on the move this summer.
It remains to be seen at this point whether the Croatian outfit will take their reported interest any further, or how much club owner, Dejphon Chansiri, would consider to be a reasonable transfer fee for the long-serving defender.
Key Sheffield Wednesday player emerges as transfer target for Croatian outfit
Sheffield Wednesday’s squad is somewhat thin on the ground as they begin their preparations for the 2023-24 Championship season, and perhaps quite importantly they do not have a manager in place yet to guide them through it.
Darren Moore’s shock exit a couple of weeks ago from Hillsborough has been messy to say the least thanks to revelations from chairman Dejphon Chansiri, who cannot afford to wait much longer in order to appoint Moore’s successor.
Currently, Wednesday have 17 contracted professionals on their books and they perhaps can’t afford to lose any before they bring in some new recruits following promotion, but unexpected transfer interest could force their hand.
One player who has been courted by another club this summer is Josh Windass, who is believed to still be on the radar of Southampton, and with one year left on his contract with the Owls he could be getting offers in the near future.
Another player who is in the same boat when it comes to having a year remaining on his contract is defender Dominic Iorfa, who has been at Wednesday since January 2019.
Despite having his fair share of injury troubles in his four-and-a-half years at the club, Iorfa has been a rock when available for the most part, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the 2019-20 season and returned to fitness for the 2022-23 campaign to help Wednesday to promotion back to the Championship.
The play-off final victory in May at Wembley against Barnsley could potentially be Iorfa’s last act in an Owls shirt however, as some shock transfer interest has emerged for the 28-year-old.
UEFA Champions League club keen to sign Iorfa
According to a report by Alan Nixon on Patreon, Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb are interested in signing Iorfa this summer and are keen to take advantage of the fact that he has less than 12 months remaining on his deal at the South Yorkshire club.
Dinamo, who are managed by former Liverpool central midfielder Igor Biscan, will enter the UEFA Champions League later this month in the qualifying stages and they are prepared to offer Iorfa the chance of playing in European competition should they be able to agree a fee with the Owls.
And it will leave owner Chansiri with a decision to make perhaps before even coming to the appointment of a new head coach as a move to Croatia could be hard to turn down for Iorfa if they make an official approach.
Should Sheffield Wednesday sell Dominic Iorfa?
Wednesday may not have much of a choice if Iorfa wants to move on.
If Dinamo tempt him with a move to mainland Europe, then Wednesday would have to cash in as it would be their last chance to recoup some money for his services.
That would be a better situation than keeping an unhappy player at Hillsborough for another year, and it would give the new head coach some more funds to play with to build the squad he wants.
So, if Dinamo firm their interest up and make an offer, then you can expect Iorfa to want the move.
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