Why Matt Penney and Joost van Aken CANNOT return for Sheffield Wednesday this season despite reports
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The defensive duo have spent the season at German 2.Bundesliga clubs St Pauli and Osnabrück respectively.
Reports elsewhere yesterday suggested that Penney and van Aken would be eligible for a return to Wednesday’s threadbare squad thanks to a change in EFL rules that will allow recalled players to play a part in the rest of their parent club’s campaign.
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Hide AdBut one of the five criteria spelled out in the rule change is the ruling that any player must be coming back from a club in a curtailed or cancelled league – such as League One or League Two or those in France or Holland – in order to play.
The 2.Bundesliga has not been curtailed – both Penney and van Aken could feature in the division’s final round of fixtures on Sunday – meaning they will NOT be eligible to play for Wednesday this season.
A number of Championship clubs could benefit from the change, which was voted in by EFL clubs earlier this week.
Asked about the potential of the pair playing a part, Wednesday boss Garry Monk told The Star earlier this month: “They’re unavailable for this season anyway, because of their season-long loans.
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Hide Ad“If we brought them back, they wouldn’t be available for us to use.
“We can recall them, but they can’t play any part in the rest of the season anyway.”