Watford surely have made their mind up on player at Sheffield Wednesday: View | OneFootball

Ashley Fletcher's loan move to Sheffield Wednesday has proved a disappointing move for all parties so far this season.

Parent club Watford allowed Fletcher to make the move to a fellow Championship club in the summer, but the 28-year-old has struggled to make an impact at Hillsborough and has found starts hard to come by.

The striker joined Watford in 2021 and this season's loan move to the Owls is Fletcher's third loan spell since being at the club. The striker signed a mammoth five-year deal with the Hornets, which means he's still contracted for the next two seasons.

Given he's been loaned out three times by Watford, and struggled to have been prolific anywhere, surely the club will be looking to cut ties with the striker permanently in the summer.

With hindsight, Watford must regret giving the player such a long deal in 2021.

Ashley Fletcher's time at Sheffield Wednesday

Fletcher made the move to Hillsborough in the summer thanks to former Watford boss Xisco Muñoz being in charge of the club.

Muñoz was at the helm at Vicarage Road in 2021 when the club signed Fletcher on a free transfer following his release by Middlesbrough, so it's clear that the Spanish manager is a fan of the striker.

However, Muñoz's time as Wednesday boss was an unmitigated disaster, and he was sacked in early October with the club rock bottom of the Championship having failed to win a league game all season.

Fletcher had played every game under Muñoz, although most of those were from the bench, but after the Spaniard was shown his marching orders, the striker was excluded from the matchday squad for four consecutive games.

Under Danny Röhl, the striker has come back into the team and has featured most weeks, making 22 Championship appearances, although just four of them have been starts.

It's been a poor campaign in front of goal for the 28-year-old, and he's failed to find the back of the net all season, registering just one assist.

If Fletcher has any ambition to become a valuable member of Watford's squad next season, he's certainly going to have to start scoring goals between now and the end of the campaign.

Wednesday need Fletcher to find his shooting boots in the upcoming weeks with the club embroiled in a relegation battle. No goals and one assist is not good enough for a loanee who was brought in to help the club stay up.

Watford have surely made their mind up on Ashley Fletcher

Since joining the Hornets in 2021, Fletcher has made just six appearances for the club and, with the striker struggling to prove himself out on loan, it's clear that there's no future for the player at Vicarage Road.

Giving the player a five-year deal was a really poor bit of business, and it's likely the club will be looking to offload him in the summer for a nominal fee.

Fletcher hasn't made an appearance for Watford since the 8th January 2022, and spent time on loan with MLS side New York Red Bulls and Wigan Athletic prior to this season.

The striker has never been particularly prolific in front of goal, having scored just 44 goals in 237 senior appearances, making the decision to give him a five-year deal at Vicarage Road a bizarre one, to say the least.

The remainder of the 2023/24 season could be one of the most important few months of Fletcher's career. If he's able to find form and starts scoring goals to help Sheffield Wednesday to stay up, it could put him in the shop window for a summer move away from Watford.