When you think of the quality at Sheffield Wednesday the name Lee can be lost amongst the names of Forestieri, Bannan, Matias, Joao, Hooper – but is this part of Kieran Lee’s charm?
The Mancunian is very much part of the rennovated Owls team that sits ninth in the Sky Bet Championship table. Only the ever-present Tom Lees has notched up more appearances for Wednesday this season than Lee.
Starting his career at Manchester United where he appeared for the first-team a couple of times, he moved onto Oldham Athletic in 2008, where he made 117 league appearances over four years in League One. He chose not to renew his contract with the Latics and this is when he joined Sheffield Wednesday for a free transfer.
It’s highly unlikely that even the most optimistic Owls’ fans could have predicted the impact that Lee would have made on their team. Lee’s impact at Hillsborough was rather delayed – it was clear that he hadn’t quite realised his best position and role yet.
The 27-year old arrived as a player who had previously played at right-back, left-back and right-midfielder – yet his exceptional form for the Owls came in central-midfield playing box-to-box alongside a defensive midfielder.
He showed last season that he can pass, tackle and shoot but his form of 2015/16 has shown another addition to his game – pressing and energy. The key attribute of any ‘box-to-box’ midfielder’s game is the abiity to get forward and back for 90 minutes without dropping the intensity, something that Lee has now mastered.
He has already chipped in with two goals and an assist so far this season – but stats don’t flatter his game. In particular, the triangle between himself, Sam Hutchinson and Fernando Forestieri, with Ross Wallace and Barry Bannan on the flanks has been very impressive since Carlos Carvalhal took over the reigns at Hillsborough.
Many would have touted Keiran Lee to be one of the players sacrificed for a new face when Dejphon Chansiri purchased the South Yorkshire club earlier this year but he has risen to the challenge to keep his place in the starting eleven and become an integral part of the new system. Not bad for a player who has never commanded a transfer fee in his career, it’s certain that he’s got a cash value now.
But Sheffield Wednesday should consider themselves lucky for his underrated nature, although he posts some exceptional performance in the centre of midfield he is not a big headline grabber and fans of the Football League might not be wholly familiar with him and his style of play.
This something that might be a blessing in disguise for Wednesday, the last thing they need is another one of their players becoming the subject of interest from other clubs after it was revealed that they had already rejected offers for key players Keiren Westwood and Tom Lees this season.
Keiran Lee, the small, quiet, clever, energetic, underrated magician they have in central-midfield.
