
EPL Index
·2 July 2025
Report: Man City sign top teen as Wednesday crisis worsens

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Yahoo sportsEPL Index
·2 July 2025
Manchester City have moved swiftly to secure one of English football’s most promising young forwards, with a £1.5 million deal in place to sign 15-year-old Caelan-Kole Cadamarteri from Sheffield Wednesday. The highly-rated attacker, son of former Everton and Bradford City forward Danny Cadamarteri, scored 24 goals for Wednesday’s U18s this past season and finished as top scorer under the EFL’s Rule 47.
The transfer, as reported by the Daily Mail, is set to be finalised this week, with City paying an initial instalment of around £900,000. Under normal circumstances, this would be a lifeline for a club in financial freefall. But for stricken Sheffield Wednesday, who are currently mired in ownership chaos and unpaid wage rows, the windfall may not make it to Hillsborough.
Due to outstanding debts, the Owls remain under a strict EFL transfer embargo. As such, any incoming funds are unlikely to be funnelled into operational needs like player wages or academy reinvestment. Instead, that money will be prioritised to settle debts owed elsewhere – a painful twist in what should be a moment of celebration for the club’s youth set-up.
As the Mail notes, “as with all transfers, the fee initially goes to the competition before being released to the selling club.” But in Wednesday’s case, the EFL is expected to redirect the cash toward creditors. This further underscores just how far the South Yorkshire outfit has fallen under the troubled ownership of Dejphon Chansiri.
The chaos at Wednesday is intensifying. Several players, according to The Star, have now handed in their notices after enduring months of delayed wages – with some still unpaid as of the most recent payday. May’s wages were late for many, and June’s are reportedly missing altogether.
Chansiri, who bought the club for £37.5 million in 2015, remains under fire from fans who have protested relentlessly against his ownership. The EFL has already charged him over non-payment of wages in March and May. The situation is so dire that “talks are continuing with wantaway manager Danny Rohl,” according to the Mail, just weeks before the new season begins.
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That Wednesday’s academy has produced a forward of Cadamarteri’s potential is a beacon in the gloom. But it’s telling that even this success story is tainted by boardroom mismanagement. With a transfer embargo, wage delays, and staff unrest threatening to spiral further, the sale of a young star to Manchester City only deepens the sense of lost opportunity.
In the words of Mail Sport, “it would appear that they will see little benefit at a time when they need it the most.” Fans will be asking: what good is talent development if the club can’t protect its own future?