Sheffield Wednesday losing George Hirst in 2018 has proven to be a disaster as the young striker is continuing to impress higher up.

The teenage forward was impressing in the Owls' academy but made just two appearances for the first team before his move to Oud-Heverlee Leuven in 2018.

Hirst was described as “arguably the most exciting, talented youngster to emerge from the club’s academy in decades” but Owls supporters never really got to enjoy having him in the team.

The teenage forward's move to OH Leuven was certainly suspicious, as it meant that Leicester City, wouldn't have to pay the compensation to Wednesday that would have come with signing him on a free transfer, as the Belgian side who are also part of the King Power group could sign him with no such problem.

The move was described as "fishy" by the Guardian's Daniel Taylor but that situation may not have manifested itself if Wednesday had offered Hirst more assurances of first-team football in the future.

After a year in Belgium that returned continued his fine goalscoring form with the academy, scoring 15 goals in 21 appearances.

Last season saw the young forward loaned to Portsmouth in League One and he certainly impressed, hitting 13 goals for Danny Cowley's side in the third tier, including a consolation goal in the 4-1 defeat against his old side on the final day of the season.

Cowley was full of praise for Hirst after he scored a brace against Crewe, saying:

"He is looking a real handful, a really powerful performance and two really good headed goals.

"I thought the first goal looked a really good goal, a great cross from Connor and then the second one as well. He’s in a good moment."

Another loan spell would follow this summer as he joined Blackburn Rovers in the Championship, although he has been limited for game time there, with just 150 minutes of league action under his belt thus far.

However, he still would have been a great player to have in Wednesday's current squad and looks likely to have a good career, so the Owls will be gutted to have lost him in such strange circumstances and for such a minimal fee in 2018.