Sheffield Wednesday: Ike Ugbo reveals exactly why he wanted to return to Hillsborough | OneFootball

The Canadian has returned to Hillsborough after a long summer of waiting.

Sheffield Wednesday's latest signing, Ike Ugbo, has revealed why he wanted to come back to the club this summer.

Danny Rohl is only one away from the dozen mark for arrivals through the door at Hillsborough. After a long, drawn-out process, Wednesday finally confirmed the signing of the 25-year-old on Thursday afternoon.

It didn't always look like a guarantee that he would return to the Steel City. The desire to bring the striker back was clear, but there were a lot of delays in the negotiations with Troyes, most recently with regard to the payment structure of the deal..

In the Olympic spirit, he recently hinted that Wednesday wanted to win the race for Ugbo, but that it may come down to a "photo-finish," as per the Star.

The Owls did, in the end, manage to pip their competition, including Sunderland, to the line. They have secured the signature of their ex-loanee, although Rohl himself won't be receiving gold for any acting awards with the way that they announced the player's return.

The reported fee that Wednesday agreed with the forward's former side is £3 million, according to Darren Witcoop. He was reported to be keen on reuniting with Rohl and the rest of the team, and that has now become reality.

Ike Ugbo on why he wanted to come back to Sheffield Wednesday

The Canadian has said that he made it clear to the manager at the end of last season, in which he helped them to survive relegation, that his desire was to be back in S6 for the next campaign.

He said, via the Star: "I think it was clear after the last game of the season when I spoke to the gaffer I made it clear that I wanted to work with him and that we wanted to work together again and we wanted to keep pushing.

"There’s a lot of factors that came into it, coming back to Sheffield. I wanted somewhere I could call home and how I ended up finishing the season, my mind was always made up in a way. Of course there were going to be offers here and there but I think I had my mind made up already."

It wasn't just the boss that was happy to see Ugbo back at Hillsborough. Barry Bannan, had been pestering the 25-year-old to come home, something that the striker echoed after signing.

"It was nice that the lads have been speaking to me as well but the feeling was so mutual, I wanted to come back," added Ugbo. "It wasn’t just Baz [Bannan], Anthony [Musaba] was bantering me as well, I’ve had loads of messages from loads of the players and I’m just happy to have finally got it over the line.

"From all the appreciation and the love from the fans, they’ve seen what I can do and it’s time to improve on what I did last season."

Ike Ugbo should fill Sheffield Wednesday's striker gap

Even with the many additions that have been made since the previous campaign ended, the Owls, up until Ugbo arrived back at the club, were still lacking a proper number nine.

Jamal Lowe and Charlie McNeill aren't natural line-leaders and there was still a slot to be filled in that regard.

Ugbo wasn't the most consistent forward in the league last time out, but he showed that he can rack up goals in this division for this team; one that should be much improved on what they had when he was last wearing the blue and white stripes.

Wednesday needed a player like Ugbo. They wanted Ugbo. They got Ugbo. You can't fault them for their transfer business.