Stoke City agreement could be the final nail in Wycombe Wanderers outcast’s coffin | OneFootball

Nathan Lowe has been an instant success at Wycombe, and as he gets up to fitness it looks like Bradley Fink has fully fallen out of favour.

Questions have been raised over the future of Wycombe Wanderers striker Bradley Fink, who has seemingly fallen out of Michael Duff's plans since the arrival and return to fitness of Nathan Lowe.

Just a few weeks ago, Football League World discussed the potential risks and rewards Wanderers could face with the signing of Lowe, and it's fair to say things are going as hoped thus far.

The Stoke City loanee marked his debut with a goal and an assist last Saturday against Stevenage, and added a second in as many games in the convincing 3-0 win over Burton Albion just a week later.

Lowe's involvement in the last three matchday squads has seen marquee summer signing Fink totally exiled from Duff's 18, which has left many supporters wondering where his minutes will come from across the remainder of the season.

With Wycombe's new January arrival pushing Fink further down the pecking order, this setback could well be the final nail in the coffin for the Swiss striker, who really hasn't got to grips with English football.

Bradley Fink's situation at Wycombe Wanderers is rather baffling

When Fink arrived at Adams Park in the summer, his signing was met with huge excitement, as he came with excellent pedigree in the Borussia Dortmund youth ranks, and was previously touted as the heir to Erling Haaland at Signal Iduna Park.

Whilst that didn't come to fruition, the striker had been playing at a top level with FC Basel, and even though his goalscoring abilities weren't always on show, you could see why he was signed by the Chairboys, given his powerful and exuberant style of play.

However, Fink suffered multiple injury setbacks in his first few months in England, meaning he had a disrupted pre-season schedule, and wasn't available for the majority of Mike Dodds' tenure before his sacking in late September.

The 22-year-old eventually found fitness, making short cameos under new boss Duff, whilst also getting a run out in the EFL Trophy, where he netted his first two, and only goals for the club in matches against Fulham U21s and Gillingham respectively.

Fink's big chance to impress his new head coach came when he made his first league start against Plymouth Argyle. Unfortunately, he did quite the opposite, as Wycombe lost the game, and he was criticised post-match by Duff for not getting into goalscoring positions.

This saw the Swiss striker dropped to the bench again, with Cauley Woodrow, Fred Onyedinma, and Sam Bell all being favoured to lead the line ahead of him, which was rather surprising, given two of the aforementioned players are naturally wingers.

Fink continued to bide his time and wait for another opportunity to right the wrongs of his performance against Plymouth, and that opportunity would come in another league fixture against Peterborough United in late January.

This time, the number nine was given plenty of service, and got himself in the right positions, but just couldn't find the net, squandering multiple good chances as the Chairboys went down by two goals to nil.

Just days later, Stoke prodigy Lowe was brought in as the new striker Wanderers fans had been crying out for, and despite taking time to get up to fitness, Fink was unable to stake a claim to keep himself in the squad, albeit with very limited opportunities.

Now, we get to the present day, with a partially fit Lowe keeping Fink out of Duff's matchday squads entirely, leaving many wondering where the former Dortmund hotshot's next opportunity will come from.

Nathan Lowe signing could signal the end for Fink this season — but what about the long-term future?

When you look at Fink in a Wycombe shirt, you don't see someone who isn't putting in effort, you see a frustrated figure who is seemingly trying extremely hard to get off the mark in the league for his new club, maybe even too hard at some points.

It's fair to say these first eight months haven't gone how either party would've hoped, and with the arrival of Lowe coupled with Woodrow finding his shooting boots again, it looks like the 22-year-old's opportunities are going to be very limited for the rest of the season.

Fink is clearly out of favour under Duff, given his lack of game time. The 47-year-old is opting to use two loan players rather than one that belongs to him, which is a telltale signal of where he stands in the pecking order.

However, whilst this means his opportunities will be few and far between in the remaining 11 matches of the season, it doesn't necessarily mean the writing is on the wall for his entire Wycombe career.

Foremost, his competitors in Woodrow and Lowe are loanees, and there's no guarantee that one, let alone both of them, will return to the club in the summer, which would make moving him on almost nonsensical, unless the Chairboys want three new strikers next term.

Fink's age and limited game time also has to be taken into consideration. There is clearly potential in the striker, and once he finds confidence in England, he can begin to develop into the player everyone at Adams Park hopes he can be.

His minutes have been sparse this season, and whilst you must be performing to get game time, he really hasn't had much time on the pitch to show what he can do, racking up just 301 minutes in the league, in comparison to Woodrow's 1,981. Even Lowe has already managed 123 minutes in just three outings.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest Fink will eventually come good. His xG per 90 of 0.67 is significantly higher than usual first-choice Woodrow (0.35), and he also excels in other attacking statistics over the Luton loanee, such as total shots and shots on target per 90.

You can't help but feel Fink needs consistent minutes to adapt to English football fully, which will help him settle down, and then allow Duff to make a call on his long-term future, rather than making such a decision on an expensive asset after a few sporadic appearances.

Perhaps a loan move to League Two could be explored for the forward in the summer, but as for the immediate future, it seems the emergence of Lowe has all but curtailed the 22-year-old's involvement this season.