Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth Argyle transfer bullet: Sheffield Wednesday, Boro dodged it | OneFootball

Wayne Rooney pushed for the arrival of Michael Baidoo at Plymouth, but it didn't work out for him in the Championship

In the summer of 2024, a then-24-year-old Michael Baidoo was a man in high demand from clubs in England.

The Ghanaian midfielder had shone in Norway and Sweden after coming through the academy at Danish club Midtjylland, spending two-and-a-half years with Elfsborg in the Swedish top flight heading into the summer transfer window.

Midway through the 2024 campaign, he'd netted four and provided a further three assists from an attacking midfield position, and the likes of Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough were showing interest in bringing him to the Championship, per Fotboll Direkt, with the same report saying that Premier League side Leicester City were also looking at him.

Ultimately, the summer came and went, and Elfsborg turned down any advances from clubs overseas, as they were in the midst of their successful qualifying campaign for the Europa League.

Baidoo would end the 2024 Allsvenskan season with 10 goals and four assists, and he'd score a further five times in the Europa League, leaving the club in the final play-off qualification spot before he eventually departed later that January.

Alongside Wednesday and Middlesbrough, Plymouth Argyle, managed by Wayne Rooney at the time, were also wanting to bring him in, and even though the England legend was dismissed on the eve of the January window opening, the Pilgrims still went ahead with signing Baidoo.

Unfortunately, his time in the Championship was far from a success.

Michael Baidoo was a Plymouth Argyle flop last season

There were a lot of positives to take from Plymouth under Miron Muslic last season, and there were plenty of players who would have earned cult-hero status if the Pilgrims managed to stay up. Michael Baidoo wouldn't have been one of them, though.

The then-25-year-old was actually Plymouth's club record signing when they brought him in on January 4. While Maksym Talovierov would break that a few weeks later, it still outlined the high expectations that those at Home Park had for the Ghanaian international.

Baidoo would make his debut in the first of two big FA Cup scalps against Premier League opposition that year, playing an hour away at Brentford. Unfortunately, his first three league games didn't yield as positive a result.

He would be largely ineffective in a draw against Oxford United, and then in home defeats to QPR and Burnley, the latter a 5-0 drubbing. From then on, his only other start came in a win against West Brom, where he was hooked at half-time with the scoreline at 0-0.

From then on, Baidoo would struggle to even get off the bench, appearing in matchday squads but remaining an unused substitute, including in that famous 1-0 win over eventual Premier League champions Liverpool in the FA Cup fourth round.

He'd go on to make just four cameo sub appearances, totalling 28 minutes, in the final 14 league games of the campaign, and while Plymouth threatened a great escape with four wins in their last seven games, the former club-record signing didn't do a great deal in contributing towards it.

Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough truly dodged a bullet with Michael Baidoo signing

Baidoo would depart Plymouth upon their relegation to League One, but only on loan, as the 26-year-old joined Qatari side Umm Salal for the 2025/26 campaign.

He's struggled with injury at times, but has largely been ineffective when he's been fit enough to play, and his excellent years in Sweden seem a long way away now.

With Middlesbrough looking onwards and upwards towards the Premier League, and Sheffield Wednesday's financial issues that would take centre stage in the summer following Baidoo's move to Plymouth, it's evident that the two sides didn't need to bring the attacking midfielder in.

Especially given that his time at Home Park so far has been relatively forgettable, as he struggled to adapt to the EFL.