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Opinion: Striker has uncertain future at Sheff Wed, could leave for free this summer

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Fernando Forestieri has an uncertain future at Sheffield Wednesday as his current deal expires in July. The 30-year-old has struggled for form, fitness and playing time under Garry Monk this season and may not be handed a contract extension as a result.

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Jonty Colman and Dom Howson of Examiner Live said in a Q&A: “As for Forestieri, it is hard to make a strong case for him to be offered a new contract.” They aren’t lying. Forestieri has made only 19 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring two goals.

The Italian forward has started just eight of Wednesday’s 37 Championship games this season due to suspension and injury problems, so Monk has gone a lot of the campaign without a fully fit Forestieri – he served a five match-ban in September for racist abuse and missed 10 league games between December 2019 and February 2020 due to a knee problem.

That’s not to say Forestieri hasn’t been a good servant for Wednesday, however. The 30-year-old joined the Owls from Watford in 2015 and has gone on to make 134 appearances in all competitions, scoring and creating 58 goals. Whether he’s worth keeping remains to be seen, however.

As per Transfermarkt, Forestieri hasn’t started more than 15 league games in a season since 2016/17. He netted 12 games that campaign but has only managed a total of 13 in the three seasons that followed. It may be time for Wednesday to let his contract run down and look to the transfer market for a replacement over the summer.

The Italian could be one of many released at the end of the campaign as Wednesday look to lower their wage bill.

Read Crippy Cooke’s previous article

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Sports journalist who is an avid football fan, enjoys debunking transfer rumours, loves to write pieces about players out in the cold and takes a large amount of pride getting a predicted XI 100% correct.