Sheffield Wednesday manager Carlos Carvalhal has made his first signing of the summer today as midfielder George Boyd joined the club from Burnley on a free transfer following the expiration of his contract at the Premier League side.
The Owls will now be looking to secure further additions in this transfer window with a defender and a winger high on the list of priorities.
An experienced addition
Boyd started his career at Stevenage who at the time were playing in the Conference Premier. He made his debut when he was 17 years old and went on to make 110 appearances for Borough scoring 23 goals in the process.
This led to what at the time was the record transfer in non-league football as he was signed by Peterborough United for £260,000 in 2007. His time at Posh was a very successful and he is seen by many as the club's best ever player. He made 263 appearances overall and scored 64 goals.
During his spell at London Road, he was loaned out twice to Nottingham Forest and Hull City. At Forest he only made six appearances in which he found the back of the net once. His loan spell with the Tigers was far more successful which led to him signing a two-year deal with the club in 2013. He made a further 30 appearances for the club scoring two goals.
Boyd then secured a move to Burnley in 2014 on a three-year deal. He then established himself as a key player in Sean Dyche's team and as a useful Premier League player in general.
Wednesday win fight for his signature
There is no doubt that Wednesday have beaten a number of other teams for Boyd's signature. The likes of Derby County and Aston Villa were also said to be very interested in securing the services of the midfielder.
However, both of these teams attention's may have been elsewhere in recent weeks as both have been busy in the transfer market. Villa completed an extraordinary swoop for Chelsea legend John Terry earlier today despite rumours that Villa may suffer from the Financial Fair Play regulations. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens if Villa fail to gain promotion this season after their vast spending over recent years.
However, due to these other teams being busy with other deals, it has allowed Wednesday to get their own summer business underway with what looks like an astute addition. Boyd will certainly add another dimension to the Owls' midfield and could help them on their way to challenging for a place in the Premier League again next season.
Boyd 'delighted' to get deal done
Boyd has made it clear how delighted he is to join the Owls and is looking forward to meeting the rest of the Wednesday squad. He told Wednesday's official YouTube channel: "I'm delighted that it's all done. It was a long summer but as soon as I knew the interest, it was a 'no brainer' for me. It's only a couple of weeks since we ended the last season but excited to get going. Back in tomorrow and raring to go. It will be nice to meet everyone tomorrow, I know a few of the boys from Scotland and obviously David Jones from Burnley so it will be nice to meet everyone tommorow and get going."
Despite making the drop down to the second flight, Boyd hopes to be back in the Premier League in the near future. He added: "I want to go straight back up and obviously (Wednesday) being close last few years and hopefully I can help us get over the line. It's a club that needs to be in the Premier League with the fans and the structure of the club."