Sheffield Wednesday weighing up Portsmouth transfer swoop - he scores for fun in League One | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday's busy summer in the transfer market continues, with the club now reportedly interested in an experienced League One goalscorer.

Sheffield Wednesday are reportedly in the market for a 72-goal striker whose experience could really benefit them in League One next season.

Few other clubs in the entire EFL can expect quite such a busy summer as Sheffield Wednesday. Following last season's disastrous performance in the Championship, their collapse into administration and eventual takeover by Arise Capital Partners, the race is now on to give the first-team squad a complete makeover ahead of their return to League One.

Such was the threadbare condition of their first-team squad by the end of the 2025-26 season that Wednesday need a lot of work this summer, and one of the many areas that needs attention is in front of goal. They were the lowest goalscorers in the Championship last season by a huge margin, registering just 29 in their 46 matches.

And it's now being reported that the club are eyeing a Championship striker who's registered 72 goals in League One, including two seasons when he was near the top of the third-tier's goalscoring charts, as Sheffield Wednesday seek to build a team capable of making their stay in the division a brief one.

72-goal Colby Bishop is a summer Sheffield Wednesday target

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According to reports in the local media in Sheffield, Wednesday have alighted on an experienced former League One striker as a player who could help to fire them back into the Championship next season.

The Sheffield Star reports that Sheffield Wednesday are looking to sign Colby Bishop from Championship club Portsmouth. Bishop has been at Fratton Park for the last four seasons and was a key part of their team which was promoted from League One, but he has failed to catch light in the Championship in the same way that he did in League One.

Bishop only managed three goals in 42 appearances for Portsmouth over the course of the 2025-26 season, so a move away from Fratton Park could prove to be a move that works out well for both clubs and the player concerned. At both Accrington Stanley and Portsmouth, Bishop shone in League One, and a move back to this division could be the reboot that the striker needs following an indifferent couple of seasons in the Championship.

What Sheffield Wednesday fans are saying about a potential move for Colby Bishop

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The possibility of Colby Bishop making a move to Hillsborough has provoked a lot of comment online from Sheffield Wednesday fans.

Colby Bishop has the League One goalscoring expertise that Sheffield Wednesday need for a quick return

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Colby Bishop's League One credentials are undeniable. He'd already hit double-figures in the division for three consecutive seasons for Accrington Stanley before making a move to Portsmouth in 2022, and over the next two seasons he scored 21 and 20 League goals for Pompey, with the club winning a return back to the Championship in 2024.

But the goals have dried up somewhat since he's been in the Championship. He ended the 2024-25 season with 11 goals in the League, a reasonable return for a team playing near the wrong end of the table, but last season resulted in just three goals in 42 appearances for Portsmouth as the club finished the season in 18th place.

In total, Bishop scored 72 goals in five seasons in League One for Accrington Stanley and Portsmouth combined, and it's this record that will have piqued the interest of Sheffield Wednesday. Signing a striker is never a promise of goals, but Bishop is highly experienced at this level and has wages expectations which should fall within their budget.

The only potential blight in his history is the heart surgery that he was required to have in 2024 after a potential risk was identified during routine screening. Bishop told BBC Solent that, "I'm very lucky that in our line of work we look at these things but if I wasn't then maybe I wouldn't have seen it", and it should be added that he has made a full recovery from this surgery.

He has two years left to run on his Fratton Park contract, but with Portsmouth also rebuilding following two relegation battles of their own, they may be amenable to moving the striker on. He could be a canny signing for a club who are seeking to make their stay in League One as brief as possible.