Sheffield Wednesday Opinion: Owls should sign Quentin Beunardeau
According to claims from Portuguese source Record, Championship playoff-hopefuls Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa are interested in signing French goalkeeper Quentin Beunardeau from Portuguese club CD Aves.
The same report claims that the 25-year-old shot-stopper has also been linked with a return to his native France, with Montpellier and Nice interested in securing his services.
Beunardeau has impressed between the sticks in the Primeira Liga for a Aves side that find themselves stuck in a relegation battle at the bottom of the table, keeping 5 clean sheets from 19 appearances.
His consistently impressive performances with the gloves have put him in on the radar of the Championship duo and a move might well be on the cards for the Frenchman.
A youth product of Le Mans, Beunardeau had stints at Nancy and Metz before joining Aves last summer. A former youth international for France, Beunardeau has won 41 caps for his nation across all youth levels comprised.
While Beunardeau’s links to Villa Park is likely to raise a few eyebrows amongst the fans due to the presence of Lovre Kalinic, Orjan Nyland and Jed Steer in the ranks, the Owls should look at the Frenchman as a potential replacement for Keiren Westwood.
The experienced Irishman has been rotated with Cameron Dawson between the sticks in the Championship this season but he is out of contract in the summer. Westwood’s departure would leave Steve Bruce with Dawson as the lone option heading into the upcoming season and recruiting an in-form shot-stopper would definitely be a good idea.
Beunardeau has made a total of 51 saves in the Primeira Liga this season, 31 of which have come from inside the penalty area.
Calm and composed between the sticks, the Frenchman uses his 6ft.1 inch frame to make himself big during one-on-one situations and brings his sharp reflexes into play to keep out shots from close range.
Though a reliable shot stopper, Beunardeau is not the best when it comes to reading the flight and the trajectory of crosses, exhibiting a tendency to punch the ball away to safety rather than making an attempt to catch it.
However, his assets as a goalkeeper outweigh his liabilities and he can be regarded as reliable presence at the back who is only going to get better with time.
Sheffield Wednesday’s hopes of securing a promotion playoff place are far from over, with the Owls only a couple of points adrift of Aston Villa for the final playoff spot.
A positive end to the season might propel them to the playoffs, though, a fairytale return to the Premier League only remains a remote possibility.
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Replacing Westwood should be high on Bruce’s wishlist in the summer and the Owls should look to beat off competition from their promotion rivals to get their hands on the promising shot-stopper.
