Sheffield Wednesday have had a number of foreign players pass through the door at Hillsborough over the years, having differing success with regard to their impact on the Yorkshire outfit.  

That’s the case even if you look at the current squad at Hillsborough, with a number of the Owls’ foreign players having differing impacts on Sheffield Wednesday’s fortunes in the Championship.

On the back of thinking about that, we’ve opted to piece together an article looking at foreign imports that Wednesday have turned to over the years looking for success.

Additionally we’ve looked to rank 10 of them in terms of quality and what they gave to the cause at Hillsborough.

Click the following link to see who ranks as No.10:

Jonk was a Dutch midfielder that rocked up at Wednesday towards the end of a playing career that had seen him play for Ajax, Inter Milan and PSV Eindhoven, as well as at the World Cup.

In terms of pedigree, he was a really good piece of business for the Owls to conduct in the late 1990s.

Overall, Jonk made 81 appearances for Wednesday, which included 43 appearances across all competitions in 1998/99 when the Owls were a Premier League outfit.

There would be a struggle for consistency beyond that for the Dutch midfielder, but he still makes this particular list of foreign imports at Hillsborough.

Semedo might have not been the most impressive foreign player to arrive at Hillsborough in terms of his general quality, but what he did for Wednesday over the years and gave the club’s supporters deserves recognising here.

The Portuguese made 2017 appearances for the Owls between 2011 and 2017, which coincided with e a period of the club’s recent history that will be fondly remembered.

As you filter through the names of all the foreign players that have played for Wednesday over the years, it’s hard to not be drawn to Semedo.

A likeable character and someone that’s extremely hard to leave out of a list like this.

The Swedish midfielder was another player to pass through Hillsborough in the 1990s, at a time when Wednesday were a top-flight club and not struggling in the second-tier like they have done over recent years.

After a spell with Halmstads and then a couple of years with IFK Gothenburg, Alexandersson arrived at Hillsborough.

The midfielder managed to make 88 appearances for the Owls during his stint in South Yorkshire, scoring 12 goals and proving to be a solid purchase.

On the back of playing for Wednesday, the Swede moved on to Everton and West Ham United before returning to IFK Gothenburg.

How it all ended for Forestieri at Hillsborough was disappointing, with the talented forward’s influence on the squad lessening the longer he stuck around with Sheffield Wednesday.

However, when he first arrived at Wednesday, he was the catalyst for putting Carlos Carvalhal’s side in promotion contention.

He scored 27 goals and registered 11 assists across his first two seasons with Wednesday, helping them reach the play-offs.

Only a further 13 goals followed across three seasons, with Forestieri’s influence lessening.

You cannot ignore his initial impact, though, with the former Italian under-21 international lighting up Hillsborough over a two-year period.

Forestieri’s captain during those early years at Hillsborough was Loovens, who unlike the forward, was hardly ever the man to be stealing the headlines with regard to winning football matches.

Instead, he was the leader at the back and a commanding defender that helped to lay a platform for those further up the field.

Loovens managed to make 150 appearances for Wednesday during his time with the club, which included helping Carvalhal’s side into the top-six and even to a play-off final at Wembley.

Injuries ruined him later in his Wednesday career, but you’d be a fool to forget the good times under Loovens’ captaincy, which sees him into a respectable position here.

This might feel like it’s slightly harsh on those that have gone before him, but Nuhiu gave an awful lot to Sheffield Wednesday during his time at the club.

Arriving from Eskisehirspor in 2013, Nuhiu would go on to make 277 appearances for Wednesday, scoring 50 goals in that period of time.

Like Forestieri and Loovens, he was part of the squad that reached the play-offs, but Nuhiu’s real time came as Wednesday struggled in the Championship on the back of failure to win promotion.

The Kosovo international scored memorable goals at Leeds and really excelled up until leaving the club in 2020.

He deserves more recognition.

Harkes was a versatile player that was a real hit at Sheffield Wednesday following his arrival from America.

On the back of arriving, Harkes would go on and make 119 appearances for the Owls in the early 1990s.

Harkes featured as Wednesday won the 1991 League Cup final and even scored in the 1993 showpiece, although that ended in defeat to Arsenal at Wembley.

Overall, the American is one of the top Wednesday foreign imports, having contributed to some memorable, memorable times between 1990 and 1993.

He delivered in a side that was not just good, but also relatively successful with what they did.

Carbone was well-travelled in Italy before he made the move to the Premier League to link up with Sheffield Wednesday.

After leaving Inter Milan, Carbone arrived at Hillsborough and lit up South Yorkshire with some exceptional forward play.

Carbone scored 26 goals in 107 appearances for Wednesday, scoring more goals and making more appearances for the Owls than he did any other club.

Aston Villa, Bradford City, Derby County and Middlesbrough were all able to get their hands on Carbone later in his career, but not one of them was able to get the same level of performance out of him.

The Swedish full-back would make 187 appearances for Wednesday during his time at the club and was another to really thrive at Hillsborough during the 1990s.

It’s worth remembering that Nilsson was picked up by Wednesday for a modest fee of only £375k from IFK Gothenburg, with Yorkshire Live describing him as ‘one of the club's greatest post-war players.’

With that kind of comment ringing in your ears, it is hard to leave Nilsson out of this list and not place him somewhere near first place.

In truth, he could have come top, but we’ve opted for a player that we are sure everyone is familiar with.

After playing for a number of Italian clubs and then even taking on the Old Firm with Celtic, Di Canio came to the Premier League where he linked up with Sheffield Wednesday.

During his time at Hillsborough, Di Canio proved to be a top player, scoring 15 goals in the Premier League.

Of course, other areas of his game would cause great controversy, but he was a unique talent and continued to show that when he moved onto West Ham United in wake of leaving Hillsborough.

Others might have had more impact at Hillsborough than Di Canio, but he was so talented that it’s very hard to leave him off the top of such a list.