Sheffield Wednesday have confirmed on the club’s official website that Lewis McGugan has left Hillsborough by mutual consent.  

The midfielder has endured a torrid spell with Wednesday, and hasn’t featured for the club’s first-team since the end of the 2015/16 season, with the Owls now terminating his contract allowing him to find another club.

McGugan arrived at Hillsborough, initially on-loan in 2014, with an excellent reputation, having made almost 250 league appearances combined during spells with Watford and Nottingham Forest.

After making an impact during a loan spell at Hillsborough, Wednesday moved to sign McGugan permanently in the summer of 2015, but the 28-year-old struggled to make an impression under Carlos Carvalhal, with the Portuguese coach freezing the midfielder out.

McGugan made just 17 appearances across all competitions during Carvalhal’s first year at Hillsborough, and has failed to feature for Wednesday since then, as Carvalhal has led the Owls to back-to-back play-off appearances.

Cardiff City took McGugan on trial earlier this summer, but Neil Warnock opted against handing the midfielder a route out of South Yorkshire, with the player returning to Hillsborough in late July.

McGugan leaves Hillsborough having made 39 appearances for the Owls and scoring nine goals.

The Verdict  

This is hardly a surprising move from Wednesday, who were extremely unlikely to use McGugan over the course of the Championship season, with Carvalhal favouring other midfield options.

McGugan’s next career move is absolutely vital, as the 28-year-old needs to get back to playing regular first-team football – whatever level he finds himself at.

Prior to his move to Sheffield Wednesday, McGugan was immense for Nottingham Forest, before a move to Watford began a slow decline in his career.

If the midfielder can rediscover the form he showed for Forest, he could be lethal in the lower leagues.

Sheffield Wednesday fans… Let us know your thoughts!