After a promising start to his time at Sheffield Wednesday, the Owls looked to have signed a bargain in Kadeem Harris but his career since leaving suggests that they were right to let him go.
The speedy winger made the move to Hillsborough in 2019 on a free transfer, having left Cardiff City earlier in the summer.
He was a regular for the Owls in the 2019/20 Championship season, making 43 appearances in the second tier, in which he contributed a respectable three goals and four assists.
The following season, which saw the Owls relegated to League One, proved to be far less successful.
In 38 second-tier outings, Harris failed to add to his goal tally for the club, although he did add another four assists in the league.
However, for a winger, those goal contributions were far from good enough, and he was one of a number of players who failed to perform in what was a shocking season for the club.
After a 0-0 draw with Stoke City early in the season, manager Tony Pulis did praise Harris for his performance, saying:
“When you think that was his first game for a few weeks… He, without being disrespectful to anybody else, he looked like our only threat at times.“He’s taken us down the pitch, he’s been a threat, and he was probably the one threat that Michael (O’Neill) will have been worried about during the game.”Unfortunately, while Harris may have threatened on a number of occasions, he rarely delivered, and it was no surprise when he was released by the club following their relegation.What is surprising, however, is where Harris’ career has taken him since his exit from Hillsborough.The 29-year-old spent the first half of last season in Ukraine with Metalist Kharkiv before the war forced him out of the country, with Turkish second-tier side Tuzlaspor his next destination.Despite hitting three goals in just six appearances with them, he would join fellow Turkish second-tier outfit Samsunspor for the new season and has hit one goal in seven appearances so far this campaign.The quality of football on offer in Turkey’s second tier is unlikely to be comparable with that of the Championship or even League One, with Samsunspor averaging just 5,705 fans at their home games so far this season, whereas the Owls have averaged 24,651.This suggests that Harris is playing at a lower standard and given his less-than-impressive time with Sheffield Wednesday, the club were right not to offer him a new deal after relegation.
