Sheffield Wednesday have re-signed Di’Shon Bernard. But Danny Rohl is still quite light at centre-back. Di’Shon Bernard has signed a new contract with Sheffield Wednesday after his previous deal expired at the end of June. The Jamaican international technically becomes the Owls’ 10th signing of the summer so far, in what’s been a very positive summer transfer window for the club. Sheffield Wednesday though still seem to be quite light at centre-back, with Danny Rohl‘s options in the middle currently being Bernard, Bambo Diaby, Michael Ihiekwe, Akin Famewo, and Dominic Iorfa.
If Rohl continues to use the same 5-2-2-1 lineup that helped his team win the Championship the previous year, he will undoubtedly want to add one or two more centre backs this summer.
That might be particularly the case given that players like Iorfa and Ihiekwe are prone to injuries.
For Rohl and Sheffield Wednesday, there are alternatives available, and one of Sheffield United’s reported transfer targets might be a great fit at Hillsborough.
According to reports, Sheffield United and Stoke City are two of the teams interested in Harry Souttar from Leicester City.
Only three times did the 25-year-old, 30-cap Australian international play for Leicester City during the previous Championship season.
Following his exciting debut with Stoke City, which set up his big-money move to Leicester in 2022, Souttar’s last few years have been derailed by a couple of catastrophic injuries.
For the 2024–2025 campaign, the Foxes are eager to send Souttar out on loan.
Souttar is a real presence at the back; standing at 6ft4 and having made a name for himself as a goal-scoring centre-back too, with 11 for Australia alone.
He’s lso a centre-back who’s confident on the ball and confident playing out from the back.
During his 2021/22 season with Stoke City in which he was really starting to shine before injury, Souttar averaged 53.8 passes-per-game, compared to Bernard for example who averaged 33.4 last season.
Souttar then could potentially slot into a Rohl system very nicely. It could be a good move for him to come and get some first-team minutes with the centre-back position still largely up for grabs, especially if Rohl plays three of them, and a good move for Leicester too as they’ll know Souttar would be playing a very modern style at Wednesday.
Sheffield Wednesday also suffered from set-pieces last time round, so having someone as tall as Souttar could be really beneficial at both ends of the pitch.
