A former Leeds United loan striker is currently looking for a new club aged 33.
A former Leeds United loan flop from the Massimo Cellino era is hoping to find a new club via the Players’ Football Association’s (PFA) free agent pre-season.
The PFA welcomes a host of unattached players to their training base every summer, offering an avenue to maintain fitness until a new club is found. Pre-season friendlies are often arranged with scouts in attendance to see if anyone is worth snapping up.
Week three of the project kicked off on Monday and among the 45 free agents in the shop window is Connor Wickham. The striker, now 33, joined Leeds on a six-month loan from Sunderland in February 2014.
Then a promising 20-year-old, Wickham moved to Elland Road with hopes of playing regular football under manager Brian McDermott. Only three years prior, the striker had joined Sunderland in an £8million deal and harboured ambitions of representing England.
Wickham had ‘everything in front of him’ according to McDermott but after being handed the No.9 shirt at Leeds, his impact was minimal. The England Under-21 international played just five Championship matches, failing to score, and was recalled by Sunderland after four weeks.
The striker joined Premier League side Crystal Palace in a £7m deal in 2015 and spent six years at Selhurst Park, one of which was on loan at Sheffield Wednesday. Wickham’s other former clubs include Preston North End, Cardiff City and Charlton Athletic while last season he was at Dubai City.
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As with every year, the PFA’s squad announcement sees memorable names from the more chaotic Leeds years resurface, including many who nearly but not quite joined the Whites. In this instance, Wickham is joined by former Elland Road target Fernando Forestieri who famously clashed with Massimo Cellino.
Back in 2015, Leeds were interested in the Watford forward and had agreed a fee before a late U-turn. Never one to shy away from speaking out, then-owner Cellino insisted his fellow Italian ‘didn't have the right mentality needed’ to play for the club and he eventually joined Sheffield Wednesday.
Somewhat predictably, Forestieri was brilliant for Wednesday that season and won Man of the Match when the Owls beat Leeds in January 2016. After the victory he cheekily posted on social media: “Great win today! The whole team had the ‘right mentality’ to win the 3 points!!! Thanks for all your support!”
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