Wycombe Wanderers will hope that Motherwell raid can fill void left by Huddersfield Town departure | OneFootball

Wycombe Wanderers will hope new signing Dan Casey can be the perfect replacement for Joe Low.

Wycombe Wanderers announced the signing of Dan Casey from Motherwell last week, in a deal which left supporters rather pleasantly surprised.

It’s a commodity in modern football for signings to appear out of the blue. With the vast coverage of the transfer market and plenty of transfer insiders across the world, it’s very rare that a transfer is kept completely under wraps, and most fans will know who is arriving before the official announcement.

Whilst this is part and parcel of the excitement of the transfer window, there is no better feeling than a surprise player announcement. For Wycombe fans, they’ve had two to enjoy within a matter of days.

The Blues completed a double swoop of the Scottish Premiership for Casey and Caolan Boyd-Munce of Motherwell and St Mirren respectively.

Focusing on the former, truthfully, not much was known about him, but delving into his career thus far, the defender could be a very shrewd pick up by the Chairboys, as a potential replacement for the outgoing Joe Low.

The lowdown on new Wycombe Wanderers defender Dan Casey

The announcement of the Irishman came as a welcome surprise on Saturday evening, making him the second arrival at Adams Park in as many days, following the signing of AFC Wimbledon’s James Tilley on Friday evening.

His name wasn’t one many supporters were familiar with, which is meant with absolutely no disrespect to Casey. There are plenty of quality players in the Scottish Premiership who go under the radar, and all signs point to the 27-year-old fitting into that category.

The defender has never actually played a single minute of senior English professional football in his career before arriving in HP12. He came through the Sunderland academy, before returning to his native Ireland with Bohemians, and enjoying a successful stint with the club.

He earned a move to fellow LOI Premier Division outfit Cork City in 2019, before returning to Bohemians just a year later. During this time, he caught the eye from across the Atlantic Ocean, and ended up signing for USL Championship outfit Sacramento Republic, where he remained until 2022.

Following his time in the states, Casey returned to the UK for the first time since his youth days, signing for Motherwell on a short-term deal in February 2023. He quickly became a stalwart for the Steelmen, winning the love of the fans by putting everything on the line for the badge. This saw his stay extended until the summer of 2025.

Now, for the first time in his professional career, the centre-back will play professional football in England, having agreed to join Mike Dodds’ men when his contract at Fir Park expires on July 1st.

Wycombe will hope Casey can serve as Joe Low replacement following Huddersfield Town move

Benji Walker (@benjiwalkerphoto)

The one area Wycombe must prioritise new signings in is certainly centre-back. Currently, the Chairboys have just five senior centre-backs on the books, three of whom are likely not at the level required to play consistently at the club’s level.

There’s certainly a buzz surrounding January addition Anders Hagelskjaer, who made just two substitute appearances for the Blues after his move from Molde due to illness and injury. However, Wycombe still have plenty of gaps in the defence to plug this summer.

Three centre-backs have left the club after last campaign, with Sonny Bradley and Caleb Taylor’s loans expiring, and Low disappointingly turning down a new contract to sign with division rivals Huddersfield Town.

With those three huge misses, the defence will likely be an area heavily focused on this summer to ensure all departures are replaced with similar calibre players. Signing Casey looks like a decent way to kick this off on paper.

The new signing's stats are very comparable to those of the departing defender. Casey exceeds Low in all defensive stats other than aerials duels won, including a much better rate of successful ground duels and tackles.

His performances have been consistent as well, averaging a 7.00 rating across 33 games according to Fotmob, compared to Low's 6.96, and chipping in with key goals, including a winner against Rangers.

Whilst Wycombe will miss that aerial prowess that Low brings to the table, thanks to his imposing stature, Casey more than makes up for his inferior aerial ability with his success in tackles and ground duels, which could be fine if Wanderers played a more dominant aerial defender next to him.

With Hagelskjaer standing at 6'5", he can assume the role that the Welshman took as the man who will be dominating the air, allowing for his new colleague to be the defender who steps up further and breaks up the play on the ground.

All-in-all, Casey is very comparable, but not the perfect like-for-like replacement for Low. He exceeds the 23-year-old in other areas of his game, but also lacks in other areas such as aerial dominance.

However, while the former Motherwell man has a slightly shorter build than his predecessor, he certainly makes up for this in aggression, discipline, and experience, making him a strong option for the Chairboys to replace Low.