Almen Abdi features: Sheffield Wednesday's 5 biggest transfer flop signings from recent times | OneFootball

We looked back at five of Sheffield Wednesday's worst signings in recent years.

Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping for a much-improved campaign in the Championship this season.

After narrowly securing survival last term following a remarkable turnaround under Danny Rohl, there is plenty of hope among Owls supporters that the club can climb the table in the year ahead.

Rohl signed a new long-term contract at Hillsborough in May, and the positive feeling around the club increased even further after a strong summer transfer window that saw the arrival of 11 new signings, including the likes of James Beadle, Yan Valery, Max Lowe, Shea Charles, Jamal Lowe and Ike Ugbo.

While this summer's window has largely been seen as a success, that has not always been the case for Wednesday, and the club have been known to make some questionable signings in the past, particularly during current owner Dejphon Chansiri's reign.

With that in mind, we looked back at five of the Owls' biggest transfer flops in recent years.

Darryl Lachman

Defender Darryl Lachman joined Wednesday from FC Twente in the summer of 2015, and he became the first signing of the Carlos Carvalhal era.

Lachman was a Curacao international, and he had made a number of Eredivisie appearances during his career for Twente, PEC Zwolle and Groningen, so there was hope that he would have been able to adapt to the Championship.

However, Lachman is believed to have been signed by the Owls' transfer committee, which consisted of Glenn Roeder, Jonathan Hill and Paul Senior, and it seems he was not rated by Carvalhal, who forced him to train with the reserves.

Lachman spent time out on loan with SC Cambuur and Willem II before departing Hillsborough in the summer of 2017 without making a senior appearance for the club.

Rafael Floro

After being released by Portuguese giants Porto, defender Rafael Floro joined Wednesday in August 2013 following a short trial period.

Floro made his debut for the Owls on the day his signing was announced in the 2-1 loss at Rotherham United in the EFL Cup, and he started again in the league a few days later, but he was substituted at half-time of the 2-1 defeat to Burnley after a tough first half.

Popular midfielder Jose Semedo gave his backing to Floro after the game, telling The Yorkshire Post: "This is crazy, this is unbelievable but I told him this is English football. He has a big future for this club.

"He is a top, top player, he was training with us last season and I am sure the club sees a big future for him."

However, unfortunately for Wednesday, Semedo's prediction did not come true and never made another appearance for the club before being released in the summer of 2015.

Urby Emanuelson

It is fair to say that eyebrows were raised when former Ajax, AC Milan, Fulham, Roma, Atalanta and Hellas Verona defender Urby Emanuelson arrived at Hillsborough on a free transfer in September 2016.

Emanuelson, who could play as a left-back, midfielder or out wide, had enjoyed an illustrious career, winning the Serie A title with AC Milan and multiple trophies with Ajax, so he was certainly a statement signing from the Owls, and the former Dutch international stated that the faith Carvalhal had shown in him convinced him to join the club.

However, Emanuelson struggled with injury during his time in South Yorkshire, and he made just one appearance for Wednesday as a late substitute in the 2-1 home defeat to Fulham on the final day of the 2016-17 season.

Unsurprisingly, Emanuelson was released by the Owls at the end of the campaign, but he was certainly an expensive mistake, with the 38-year-old claiming that he was among the club's top earners.

Almen Abdi

Midfielder Almen Abdi joined Wednesday from Watford for a fee of £4 million in July 2016.

Abdi had starred for the Hornets over the previous four years, scoring 25 goals and providing 14 assists in 131 games and playing a crucial role in their promotion to the Premier League in 2015, so much was expected of him when he arrived at Hillsborough.

However, Abdi was plagued by injury during his time with the Owls, meaning that he was rarely seen in the blue and white stripes, and he was released in the summer of 2019 after failing to make a single appearance in his final season at the club.

Abdi opened up on his time with Wednesday in 2021, and he revealed he had a difficult relationship with Carvalhal, telling The Athletic: "The coach didn’t help me very much because I’d play two games then the third, which I didn’t play well, so he’d drop me, then drop me again and after a while, you lose confidence.

"I needed a manager who trusted me, who believed in me, who pushed me. He (Carvalhal) didn’t do that. He’s energetic, he’s enthusiastic. He’s a really good coach and he did well. But he didn’t trust me. He didn’t like me and I didn’t like him that much. So it was really hard mentally. I was asking myself why? What have I done?"

The 37-year-old claimed that he "asked to leave a few times, literally every six months", but according to The Athletic, while the Owls would have been willing to sanction his departure, "there was no serious interest" in his services.

Like Emanuelson, Abdi was another costly transfer flop for Wednesday, and he will go down as one of the club's most underwhelming signings of all time.

Francis Jeffers

There are a number of former Wednesday strikers who could have been included on this list, but surely few were as disappointing as Francis Jeffers.

Arsenal had signed Jeffers from Everton for a fee of £10 million early in his career, but he failed to live up to his potential, and after just one season with the Gunners, he was loaned back to the Toffees before departing for Charlton Athletic on a permanent basis.

Jeffers joined the Owls from Blackburn Rovers in June 2007, but he went on to score just five goals and register three assist in 60 appearances during his three-year spell at the club.

The 43-year-old was placed on the transfer list by manager Brian Laws in August 2009 after being sent off for headbutting Tommy Fraser in a 2-0 defeat at Port Vale in the EFL Cup, but he remained at the club before being released the following summer after Wednesday's relegation to League One.