Sheffield Wednesday striker Lucas Joao has revealed that he hopes to play for the Owls in the Premier League, report Portuguese newspaper O Jogo, via the Sheffield Star.

The striker has had a mixed season at Hillsborough but is optimistic that Steve Bruce's first full season at the club could bring the outcome that is so badly desired.

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"The Premier League is close and it was one of the reasons that led me to England," Joao said.

"I don’t want to leave here without realising this desire.

"In this club we have everything, players and technical teams of great quality. I believe that with work and a lot of luck things will happen."

In total, Joao netted 10 Championship goals in 18 starts but will no doubt be looking to improve on that tally.

Bruce arrived at the club in February, with his assistants taking control in January, and managed to turn them from potential relegation candidates into play-off contenders.

They ultimately fell short of the top six but finished the campaign in a comfortable 12th place and just eight points shy of the play-offs.

The verdict

This is definitely something that is possible at Hillsborough next season.

But ultimately, if it is going to happen, the likes of Joao are going to have to up their game from what we have just seen.

Throughout the last campaign we saw how good he can be but it was far too infrequent. If he can add that consistency to his game then he could easily score 20+ goals and fire Wednesday up.