Sheffield Wednesday signing was a flop despite clutch Leeds United moment | OneFootball

Despite scoring a wondergoal against Leeds United, Marco Matias will be remembered as Sheffield Wednesday transfer flop.

Sheffield Wednesday have had a mixed record in the transfer market during owner Dejphon Chansiri's reign, and the signing of winger Marco Matias will go down as one of the club's less successful deals.

Wednesday finished in a credible 13th place in the Championship in the 2014-15 season, but as Chansiri looked to stamp his mark on the club following his takeover earlier in the year, he parted company with manager Stuart Gray in June 2015 and replaced him with Carlos Carvalhal.

Some supporters were unhappy with the decision to sack Gray, feeling that he deserved to be given a chance to work with a bigger budget, and as little was known about Carvalhal when he arrived at Hillsborough, his appointment was greeted with a mixture of nerves and excitement.

Carvalhal oversaw a big rebuild of the Owls squad after taking charge, and in addition to the signings of seasoned Championship performers such as Jack Hunt, Daniel Pudil, Barry Bannan, Lewis McGugan, Ross Wallace and Fernando Forestieri, the 59-year-old also brought in a number of players from his homeland.

Matias was one of those to make the move to South Yorkshire from Portugal as he joined Wednesday from Nacional, but despite a promising start to his time at the club, he will not be fondly remembered.

Marco Matias failed to build on standout Leeds United moment

Matias had spent the entirety of his career in his native Portugal before arriving at Hillsborough, so there was no guarantee that he would be able to adapt to English football, and his signing was certainly a gamble for Wednesday.

However, as Matias had represented his country at youth level and scored a remarkable 21 goals in 42 games for Nacional the previous season, there was plenty of reason for Owls supporters to be optimistic that he would be a success.

The excitement around Matias increased when he scored a wondergoal on just his fifth appearance for Wednesday in the 1-1 draw at Leeds United as he controlled a long ball from Liam Palmer, flicked it over the head of Liam Cooper and unleashed a stunning 18-yard volley that flew past Marco Silvestri.

If Matias wanted to announce himself to Owls supporters, he picked the perfect time and place to do it in a game against their Yorkshire rivals, and the stunning strike showcased the undoubted quality the winger possessed.

Matias was again on the scoresheet the following weekend in the 3-1 home defeat to Middlesbrough, but he would only find the back of the net once more in the 2015-16 season as injuries plagued him throughout the campaign.

Unfortunately for Matias, Wallace had cemented his place on the right during his absence, meaning it was difficult for him to force his way back into the team, and his injury problems persisted as he made a combined total of just 16 appearances over the next two seasons.

After becoming something of a forgotten man at Hillsborough, Matias enjoyed a brief revival in the 2018-19 season as he scored seven goals and provided three assists in 34 games, but despite featuring regularly under Steve Bruce in the second half of the campaign, he was released in the summer at the end of his contract.

While the exact transfer fee Wednesday paid for Matias is unknown, given his outstanding form in Portugal prior to his arrival, he is unlikely to have been cheap, making him a potentially costly transfer mistake.

Matias produced a memorable moment against Leeds that is still talked about to this day, and his goal will go down as one of the greatest in Championship history, but Owls supporters would have expected so much more from him.

Wednesday have had bigger flops than Matias during the Chansiri era, such as the club record £10 million signing of Jordan Rhodes from Middlesbrough and the £4 million deal that saw Almen Abdi arrive from Watford, so the winger is not remembered quite as unfavourably as some of the club's other transfer failures.

However, Matias' time in an Owls shirt was still incredibly underwhelming, and although it is difficult not to feel some sympathy for him due to his injury struggles, he failed to deliver consistently when fit.

Matias is currently playing in the Portuguese top flight with Farense at the age of 35, which underlines the fact that he is clearly a talented player, but Wednesday never got to see the best of him during his four-year spell at the club.