Birmingham City and QPR both dodged major Sheffield Wednesday transfer bullet | OneFootball

Ike Ugbo's permanent switch to the Owls has proven to be an absolute disaster

Birmingham City and Queens Park Rangers both swerved a major Sheffield Wednesday transfer bullet last year, yet the R’s still ended up with their own flop.

Both Blues and Rangers were reportedly interested in signing striker Ike Ugbo in the summer of 2024 - but his permanent switch to the Owls has proven to be an absolute disaster.

Having just completed an initial loan spell at the South Yorkshire club that saw him score seven goals in 19 appearances, the Canadian had caught the attention of several clubs all vying for his signature.

But sometimes, the best piece of business a club can do in the transfer market is the deal they don't make.

Birmingham City and QPR lost out on Ike Ugbo to Sheffield Wednesday

According to Darren Witcoop in mid-July 2024, Stoke City, QPR, and Birmingham City were all in the hunt for Ugbo's services in addition to Wednesday's obvious interest in bringing him back permanently.

At that point, the reason why he wanted to go back seemed clear. Ugbo had been so important at Hillsborough during the second half of the 23/24 season, playing a key role in Danny Rohl's miraculous escape from relegation.

Wednesday ended up completing Ugbo's permanent transfer from French side Troyes for a reported fee in the region of £2.5m. So, on paper, it appeared to be the kind of shrewd business that would make the clubs that missed out on him feel very disappointed.

But Blues ended up splashing the cash elsewhere and the R's put their faith into someone just as disappointing.

Birmingham City broke the League One transfer record after missing out on Ike Ugbo

For added context, Birmingham had already signed Alfie May from Charlton Athletic before Witcoop's tweet reporting their interest in Ugbo, but it was before the West Midlands club's deals for Lyndon Dykes and Jay Stansfield.

Ugbo officially signed for the Owls on the 8th August, whereas Dykes joined on the 28th of that month for a reported £1m, and Stansfield's record-breaking move of over £15m happened on deadline day.

The best out of the striking trio for Birmingham that season was obviously Stansfield, who finished 24/25 with 19 league goals, in comparison to May and Dykes scoring 16 and one respectively.

Albeit that was League One and Ugbo spent last season in the Championship, the Owls' striker failed to score a single goal in the second-tier in 34 appearances and has endured similar struggles this time around, too.

That is why you can perhaps make the argument that Chris Davies was wise not to pursue the Canadian international and opt for the others instead. QPR didn't have that same luck though...

QPR signed Žan Celar days after reported interest in Sheffield Wednesday's Ike Ugbo

Three days after the R's reported interest in Ugbo, Žan Celar arrived in West London on the 19th of July for around £1.7m plus £700k in add-ons, as per The Athletic.

The Slovenian was coming off the back of three genuinely productive seasons at Swiss club FC Lugano, where he had scored a total of 50 goals across all competitions - but he'd prove to be just a little bit more impressive than Ugbo.

In 15 less games than Ugbo last season, Celar actually managed to score two Championship goals - a match-winning brace away at Cardiff City, but his debut season at Loftus Road still proved to be a letdown.

By this past summer transfer window, with new strikers Richard Kone and Rumarn Burrell joining the club, Celar had slipped down the pecking order considerably and was shipped out on loan after playing twice.

If things were different at Hillsborough, you could perhaps have seen Ugbo suffering a similar fate. So, nearly eighteen months later, and for Blues and QPR, watching Wednesday's continued struggles with him this season will surely remind them of the transfer bullet they dodged.