After suffering defeat in their first pre-season friendly of the summer to Celtic last week, Sheffield Wednesday managed to bounce back on Saturday by beating Chester 2-0.
Whilst these particular games are designed to build up the fitness of the club's players, the Owls could still use the momentum gained from delivering some promising displays to their advantage next month when the 2021/22 campaign starts.
Having decided to part ways with a plethora of players earlier this year following his side's relegation from the Championship, it will be intriguing to see whether Wednesday manager Darren Moore is able to assemble a side which is capable of thriving in the third-tier of English football.
The Owls boss has already bolstered his options by signing Olamide Shodipo and Dennis Adeniran this month and could potentially be about to swoop for an individual who recently featured at League One level for Portsmouth.
According to The Sun journalist Alan Nixon, Wednesday are reportedly interested in signing Swansea City midfielder George Byers.
[gmsStartingEleven url="https://givemesport.starting11.co.uk/2019-06-17/"]
It is understood that the 25-year-old will be allowed to leave the Liberty Stadium this summer if the Owls are able to reach an agreement with the Jacks over a move.
Byers missed a considerable chunk of the previous campaign due to injury and was eventually sent on loan by Swansea in January to Portsmouth.
Although he was unable to inspire Pompey to a place in the play-offs, the midfielder did manage to illustrate some signs of promise during the 14 appearances that he made for the club.
With Byers' current deal at Swansea set to expire next year, the Welsh side may be tempted to cash in on him this summer if he is not part of their long-term plans for the future.
Whilst Wednesday are no longer under a transfer embargo, they are still reportedly unable to pay transfer fees for players and thus they may have to try to convince the Jacks to sanction a temporary move for Byers.
GIVEMESPORT's Joshua Cole says...
This could turn out to be a shrewd bit of business by the Owls who need to add to their options in central-midfield following the departures of Liam Shaw and Joey Pelupessy.
Whereas it is abundantly clear that Byers needs to work on his consistency due to the fact that he only managed to average a WhoScored match rating of 6.27 at this level last season, he did show glimpses of his talent at Fratton Park.
Particularly impressive during Portsmouth's clashes with Accrington Stanley and Bristol Rovers last season, the midfielder managed to record ratings of 6.82 and 7.07 in these particular fixtures.
By learning from the guidance of Moore, there is no reason why Byers cannot emerge as a key player for the Owls if they can convince him to swap the Liberty Stadium for Hillsborough in the coming weeks.
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