The key element that Xisco hopes Sheffield Wednesday’s midfield signing will bring to S6

The 26-year-old Frenchman became Wednesday’s ninth signing of the summer last week as he completed a loan move from Portuguese outfit, Portimonense, and the aim is for him to slot in in front of the backline as they look to plug some of the goals that they’ve been conceding.

A 4-2 defeat to Hull City raised a few alarm bells amongst the fanbase on the back of their opening night loss against Southampton, and Xisco says that his side need to be better at closing down space in the central channels – something that he is eager to see Diaby do.

The former Pacos de Ferreira man will certainly bring some more height to the middle of the park, and the Owls boss says it’s just as important to have another body through the door.

“In midfield we have only four players,” he told The Star. “We need numbers, especially when you have three games in one week. When somebody like Barry plays he’ll run 11 or 12 kilometres. They need to fight for which one is better for starting games, and it will always give us more choice if some situations happen.

“He needs to give us the balance, right now - again today - when the ball went into the central channel they shot, goal. Second one, central channel, shoot, goal. In the Championship if you’re not strong in the central channels a player like Tufan is the perfect player. This is the situation that he needs to try to stop. We can find this intensity and balance from him, in offence and defence.”

Wednesday will reach double figures on the signing front if/when Djeidi Gassama completes his switch from Paris Saint-German, and there will be a desire to see some of the new arrivals shine at Hillsborough when the Owls return to S6 to face Preston North End this weekend.

That game is set for 3pm on Saturday as the Owls look to get their first points on the board following a difficult start to their return to the second tier.