Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers will have to act fast to sign January target with two transfer bids launched

The Orlando City striker, who was the subject of a dramatic deadline day back-and-forth that saw him travel to the UK only for his last-gasp deal with Blackburn Rovers to collapse due to shoddy paperwork, remains a man in demand after scoring four goals in his nine MLS appearances so far this season.

The Star understands Orlando offered a fresh contract to McGuire on Wednesday, with ‘very serious’ interest arriving from Belgium and Germany. Two bids are believed to have been launched for the player, who has a solitary cap for his country and played for USA’s under-23 outfit as recently as March.

Sources have told The Star that Wednesday have remained observers of McGuire’s progress since January, but that no firm move has yet been made from S6 for his services. It remains to be seen whether a return Owls bid to sign the forward will be put forward as the club look to navigate an important start to their summer transfer window.

The Owls are understood to be keen on securing a deal to bring loanee Ike Ugbo back to the club after his goals helped spearhead their ultimately successful survival campaign. Bids for McGuire from Wednesday came after Ugbo’s signing on January 11.

In a chaotic end to the winter window, Wednesday were understood to have launched multiple bids for the now 23-year-old both before and after Blackburn informed McGuire’s representatives that a deal was off while the forward was on a transatlantic plane to complete a move to Ewood Park.

McGuire breakfasted at a Sheffield hotel before the completed sale of then-Blackburn midfielder Adam Wharton to Crystal Palace made a further bid possible. The Nebraska-born forward was unveiled as a Rovers signing before the paperwork fudge came to light.