"Can do a job" - Sheffield Wednesday urged to consider swoop for 30-year-old | OneFootball

The Ghanaian is a free agent after terminating his contract with Besiktas last year

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

With the news that Di’Shon Bernard could be out for a significant period of time, Sheffield Wednesday may be tempted to dip into the free agent market in the weeks to come to add to their depth in defensive areas.

The Jamaican international limped out of the clash with West Bromwich Albion just three minutes after the break at the weekend, and the initial prognosis doesn’t look promising, with boss Danny Rohl saying the situation was ‘very sad’.

The 24-year-old joins the likes of Dominic Iorfa, Barry Bannan, Anthony Musaba and Akin Famewo in the medical room at Hillsborough right now, with Wednesday starting to look light in terms of defensive options for the remainder of the season.

With that in mind, we spoke to Football League World’s Owls fan pundit Patrick McKenna to see if he had his eyes on any free agents to fill the void left by Bernard for the remainder of the season.

Daniel Amartey outlined as ideal Sheffield Wednesday free agent pickup

Taking a free agent for the remainder of the campaign could be a risky move from Wednesday’s point of view, but to have that extra body in the door as backup if required could make all the difference in their hopes of making it into the play-off positions come the end of the season.

The Owls are within touching distance of the top six as it stands, and with the loss of Bernard, and Iorfa still on the sidelines, there comes a time when Rohl must be looking at who is available outside of a transfer window to add to his squad, with a number of players still without a club right now.

While there have been links of former West Ham United man James Tomkins coming out of retirement to move to Millwall recently, and veteran centre-backs Erik Pieters and Ciaran Clark still floating around in obscurity, McKenna has his eyes on another player who has experience of the English game, but was last seen playing in the Turkish Super Lig.

When asked if there was a player who could be brought in to replace Bernard, the Wednesday fan said: “When you look at the list of free agents, one thing that does strike you is that there are a lot of players on there, but they will be there for various reasons: injuries, haven’t played for a while, loss of form, or fallen out with management or fellow players at the club.

“So even though this guy has attracted a bit of controversy at his time at Leicester, and at Besiktas he essentially refused a move to Saudi Arabia, Daniel Amartey could be an option.

“To be honest, a guy who refuses a move to Saudi Arabia sounds like my sort of person; he just didn’t run away to a league of a poor standard to earn a lot of money.

“One of the reasons he jumped out at me was his experience within the English game, which I think is important in a way for a free agent like this, especially with our situation at centre-back.

“Whoever signs has to jump straight in and have to adapt straight away to the rough and tumble of the Championship, and Amartey has experience of the English game.”

Daniel Amartey versatility could help Sheffield Wednesday as injury crisis worsens

It isn’t just in the defensive areas that Wednesday are short right now, with the news that Barry Bannan is also likely to spend the next four to six weeks on the sidelines, as Rohl revealed earlier this week.

Amartey is a player that can play in the defensive line, as well as further forward in the midfield, and that adaptability could be key for a side who need additional quality to cover their spate of injuries right now.

As McKenna mentioned, the player has been involved in his fair share of controversial moments in the past, after being accused of trying to escape Besiktas’ headquarters to avoid a transfer to Saudi Arabia last summer.

Since then, his contract has been terminated with the Turkish side, leaving him free to sign for another club if he so wishes, with his desire to stay in Europe being fulfilled if he did indeed move to Yorkshire.

That experience, flexibility and quality could prove to be a major asset if any deal did go through in the next few weeks, and McKenna believes he should move to the Steel City with a clean slate following his previous misdemeanours.

He continued: “Another thing that attracts me is that he has experience playing as a defensive midfielder, and with the injuries to Barry Bannan and Chalobah not being truly fit, if we had this guy to step into defensive midfield as well, that flexibility would be very welcomed.

“Any free agent we take at this stage will have a risk element to them, but then I have the faith in Danny Rohl and the recruitment team that they will be thorough and won’t just sign anybody.

“Out of the list, that name has jumped out at me, of course there is a risk with him being a free agent, and he is something of a controversial figure, but I think stuff like past controversies are things we have to look past as a club as we are in a perilous situation and beggars can’t be choosers.

“He has played in England before, he has shown what he can do, and I think he can do a job for us.”