Sheffield Wednesday hit the bullseye with Middlesbrough transfer agreement - he cost the Owls £0 | OneFootball

Chris Brunt's career was kick-started following a free transfer to Sheffield Wednesday

Chris Brunt is a name that most Premier League fans associate with West Bromwich Albion, having made over 400 Baggies appearances in his storied career.

However, to get to the level where he was playing Premier League football week in, week out, he made his name at Sheffield Wednesday as a relatively unknown 19-year-old, signed on free in 2004 out of the Middlesbrough academy.

Wednesday were in a bit of a tough position, having been relegated to the old Second Division (now League One) for the 2003/04 campaign, and the side that were in the Premier League at the turn of the millennium were trying to find that spark to send them back into the Championship.

It turned out that this young winger, who was only signed initially on a short-term deal, would become a key member of the Owls side in the mid-2000s, and the few seasons he spent there before he made the move to the Hawthorns will always leave him in the good books of Wednesday fans.

Chris Brunt's Premier League pedigree was nurtured at Sheffield Wednesday

Chris Brunt would go on to make more appearances in the Premier League than in any other competition in his career, but if not for his time spent at Sheffield Wednesday, he may never have reached those heights.

Brunt was brought to the club by Chris Turner, but it was under Paul Sturrock that he was given his breakthrough in the first team, going from making just nine appearances in the third tier in the 2003/04 campaign to 42 the season after, helping Wednesday become the first play-off winners of the newly branded League One.

His strike in the semi-final against Brentford helped send his side to the Millennium Stadium, and he played all 120 minutes in their extra-time final win over Hartlepool United.

For a free transfer, Brunt had already earned his stripes in Wednesday colours, but his time in the Championship whilst at the club saw him progress to heights Middlesbrough fans wouldn't have expected to see when he was a teenager in their academy.

Seven goals in his first second-tier season, followed by 11 goals and a further 12 assists in the 2006/07 campaign, the then-22-year-old was always going to be subject to interest from sides with Premier League aspirations.

And thus came the approach from West Brom in the summer of 2007. The Baggies had been defeated in the play-off final against Derby County the season prior - their first back in the Championship after a couple of seasons in the top flight.

Ultimately, the lure of a side with ambitions to get back into the Premier League and ultimately stay there was too much for Sheffield Wednesday to convince Brunt to stay, but the Owls did make sure that they made a healthy profit on him.

Profit made on Chris Brunt and a successful career thereafter means no hard feelings from Sheffield Wednesday fans

Then-Baggies manager Tony Mowbray made Chris Brunt one of his main targets in the 2007 summer transfer window, and the exciting winger made the move to the Hawthorns for £3 million.

His first season saw him help West Brom win the Championship, but he soon found himself back in the second tier after the side were immediately relegated in the 2008/09 season.

Brunt stayed at the Hawthorns, though, despite netting nine in his debut season in the Premier League, and his 21 goal contributions in the second tier once again led to promotion, as West Brom finished second.

Brunt was then a mainstay of the Baggies side, who played in eight straight Premier League seasons between 2010-2018, even becoming captain there for three years, and whilst his side suffered relegation again, he made sure to stick around for a third promotion in 2020 before he was released after 13 years at the club.

Sheffield Wednesday have been unable to reach the heights of the Premier League since 2000, but instead they watched on as Chris Brunt played over 250 top-flight games following his departure from Hillsborough.

Sheffield Wednesday will definitely relish the fact that they saw a Premier League regular in the bright-eyed teenager who arrived at the club on a free in 2004.