Ashley Fletcher’s value has dropped dramatically since moving to Middlesbrough for £6.5 million, and he has struggled at Sheffield Wednesday.
- Fletcher’s move to Sheffield Wednesday has been disappointing, with no goals scored and minimal impact on the team.
- The club is unlikely to re-sign Fletcher next season, given his lackluster performance and poor goal-scoring record.
- At 28 years old, Fletcher may need to consider a move to League One to rejuvenate his career and find success in lower divisions.
Sheffield Ashley Fletcher’s signing on Wednesday is a far cry from his £6.5 million transfer to Middlesbrough.
This season, the former Manchester United striker came to Watford on a loan after a string of unsuccessful stints at Wigan Athletic and the New York Red Bulls.
After spending four Championship seasons with Boro, he signed with Watford in the summer of 2021. In an indication of their high expectations for the striker’s future at the team, they paid West Ham United £6.5 million for him.
However, he struggled at Riverside Stadium, scoring just 19 league goals in 92 games.
He did not live up to expectations for a big-money signing, and he did not even score while he was at Watford.
Fletcher has not performed for Wednesday this season
Even with years of Championship experience, Fletcher has been a complete bust for Wednesday this year.
He has made 23 appearances for the Owls in the Championship since joining the team on loan at the start of the campaign.
They have been involved in a fight against relegation during this time, and right now, only one point separates them from the bottom three.
Whatever advantages they may have had, though, are not attributable to the forward’s play thus far this season.
Fletcher, who once cost Boro £6.5 million, has produced a dismal return in the league this season, failing to score and only providing one assist.
In his ten hours on the pitch, he has not made an impression despite only playing 600 minutes for the team.
With 1.66 shots per ninety minutes, he is among the league’s lowest scoring strikers, and according to Fotmob, he is hitting below his expected goals of 2.01 by failing to find the net at all.
The way he dribbles, wins aerial duels, and executes passes, Fletcher’s performance on Wednesday is dismal.
He hasn’t shown up for Hillsborough this season, and it’s highly unlikely that the team will try to bring him back for the following campaign.
The club will not want to re-sign Fletcher next season
Whether or not Wednesday plays in the Championship or League One, it doesn’t seem likely that they will want to sign Fletcher again for the upcoming campaign.
The club’s future in the second division will be determined by the results of the upcoming games. They won’t want to have to rely on a striker who was unable to produce any goals in a competitive struggle at the bottom in the future.
Fletcher has demonstrated that he is not a good fit for football championships.
In 157 second-tier games, he has only managed 23 goals. Even more concerning is the fact that he scored 12 goals in six seasons, with 11 of those goals coming in a single season with Boro.
With that record, switching to another Championship team seems improbable. The summer is when his Watford contract expires, so he will need to find a new team. You would think that at 28, he would be reaching the pinnacle of his abilities, but so far, that hasn’t appeared to be the case.
For him, dropping down to League One might be the best course of action in order to help him find his form and eventually move back up the leagues.
It’s a far cry from when Boro paid £6.5 million for the former United striker, as demonstrated by Fletcher’s season on Wednesday.
