Jayden Onen: Ugandan midfielder talks about move to Sheffield Wednesday

Jayden Onen has expressed delight at completing the move to Sheffield Wednesday after the deal was announced by the club late on Monday evening.

The 20-year-old Ugandan attacking midfielder joined the League One club on a free transfer after spending time training with the club’s Under-23 side.

Onen spent last season with championship side Reading where he made two appearances and was an unused substitute in 16 games for the club before he was released by the Royals following the expiry of his one-year contract.

At Wednesday, he is expected to immediately join Lee Bullen’s Under-23 side for their clash against Hull City at Stocksbridge on Wednesday.

“I’m delighted to get it all signed and sorted and my main focus is to get as fit as I can,” Onen who impressed during a 1-1 draw with Coventry in September with an assist told the club’s website.

“I got a little taste of first team football last season with Reading and made my debut against Norwich - it’s made me hungry for more. I know what I need to do and where I want to be.”

“I had a good week training here, spent time with the first team and the lads were very welcoming and now I just want to push on.”

“I played in the game at Coventry and I thought we played really well that day, there were a lot of young lads from the club playing but they did well and now I can’t wait to get started,” he added.

Onen started his career in London, going through the academy at giants Arsenal before playing for the youth teams at Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion.

In 2018, he joined Brentford, and during his two years with the Bees, he was loaned out to National league side Bromley in 2019.

He has already been involved with the Uganda Cranes and was called up to the Cranes squad for two Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers in March 2020, though the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic halted what could have been his national debut.

In October 2020, former Cranes coach Johnathan McKinstry invited him again for a training camp in Dubai but his involvement with the national side has been limited since.