Sheffield Wednesday casting eyes over Premier League player | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday have brought in 17-year-old Brentford defender Reuben Lawal on loan.

The summer transfer window may well be over but that hasn’t stopped Sheffield Wednesday bringing in Brentford youngster Reuben Lawal on loan.

Sheffield Wednesday have started their return to League One very well with three victories in four matches, including a 7-2 demolition of Bromley at Hillsborough last weekend.

They began with a 1-0 defeat of Championship newcomers Bolton Wanderers in the first round of the EFL Cup before a 2-1 win away at Leyton Orient and then a 1-0 loss at home to Yorkshire rivals Bradford City, which was backed up by a 2-0 defeat to a strong Wolverhampton Wanderers side in the cup.

Wednesday have since recovered from those losses by hammering Bromley and then coming from behind to defeat Wycombe Wanderers by two goals to one at Adams Park in midweek.

The Owls were placed into administration and their relegation from the Championship was confirmed as early as February but Henrik Pedersen’s side continued to play for pride and did eventually scramble themselves onto zero points with a final day defeat of West Bromwich Albion.

The rebuild of the squad began in earnest over the summer and they have put together one that is expected to challenge for promotion this time around – and adding to the squad has not stopped just yet.

Sheffield Wednesday have taken Reuben Lawal on loan

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As explained by Joe Crann in his substack The Wednesday Word, Sheffield Wednesday have taken 17-year-old Reuben Lawal on loan from Brentford.

Lawal had been training with Wednesday’s academy at the back end of this summer and he has earned a loan move as he heads into the second year of his scholarship at Brentford.

The left-back, who can also play as a left-sided centre-back, is understood to be keen on making a permanent move back to Yorkshire – and now has the opportunity to impress at Wednesday over a longer period.

Lawal was a part of the academy setup at Sheffield United before departing The Blades in 2025 and signing a scholarship with Brentford after a trial period.

Sheffield Wednesday did a lot of much-needed business this summer

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Sheffield Wednesday did a lot of business in terms of first-team incomings this summer but Lawal is also a part of a large contingent of signings made to bolster their youth setup.

As well as the signing of Lawal from The Bees, The Owls have also added Louis Poland, Will McPartland, Samuel Duruh, Fortune Onoh and Joel Martin to their U21 squad with Crann explaining that there are believed to be other signings made, too.

Henrik Pedersen’s first team required plenty of academy graduates to make the step up to fill out the squad and play senior football last season, such as Gabriel Otegbayo, Sean Fusire, George Brown, Ernie Weaver, Dylan Moses, Rio Shipston, Will Grainger, Joe Emery, Bruno Fernandes, Favour Onukwuli, Yisa Alao, Guilherme Siqueira, Logan Stretch and Mackenzie Maltby.

Now with the influx of 18 new signings into their first-team, there isn’t necessarily the necessity of players to step up immediately, nor the prospect that they could be required.

However, a pathway has been shown and may well be developed and followed this year as Wednesday remain in the early stages of a desperately needed rebuild of their squad following what has gone on in the last 12 to 18 months or so.

Reuben Lawal may not get first-team minutes this season, albeit competitions such as the EFL Trophy will likely provide younger players that are the core depth of Henrik Pedersen’s squad, with further opportunities at Hillsborough this year as they fully focus on returning to the second-tier at the first attempt.