SEVEN years ago, Ashley Fletcher signed a lucrative four-year deal with a Premier League club and his star was most definitely on the rise.
West Ham were quick to swoop after the striker, then 20, decided to leave Manchester United at the end of his contract following a productive loan spell at Barnsley, who he helped to a Wembley double in 2015-16.He featured 20 times for the Hammers in that 2016-17 campaign and while it did not go swimmingly, it did not stop Middlesbrough shelving out £6.5m to sign him the following summer. Time was on his and Boro’s side.
Fast forward to now and It is not doing the forward – now 27 and in the colours of Sheffield Wednesday – a disservice to say that his career graph has not moved back upwards since.
Fletcher showed the odd flash of his talent at Boro, but struggled for consistency and would leave when his contract expired at the end of the 2020-21 season.
A move to Watford – when he linked up with recently appointed Owls chief Xisco Munoz – did not yield any significant upturn. Although Xisco clearly did see enough to convince him to offer him another chance at his current club.
Given the publicity surrounding his switches to West Ham and Boro, Fletcher’s move to Hillsborough did not get too much of a mention outside Yorkshire in comparison.
His career has stood still for a while and the likeable frontman, born in Keighley, but raised in Bolton, acknowledges that.
Those who lauded him a while back have since forgotten about him – and this chance at Hillsborough is likely to represent his last big opportunity to get it right at a big club.
Fletcher, who has joined on a season-long loan from Watford, said: “There’s no denying that the last couple of years have not gone to plan for me.
“I have kind of been in neutral and that’s not where I wanted my career to go. But people have set-backs and I am big enough to admit that.
“It’s all about me putting it right and getting back on track.”
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