Sheffield Wednesday chairman Milan Mandaric has admitted that his side were hoping to extend Connor Wickham's loan at the club before he decided to join Leeds United.
Wickham, who is contracted to Sunderland, spent the first part of this season with the Owls as well as a spell in 2012-13, but the player decided to switch to Yorkshire rivals Leeds instead.
"Yes, we were interested in Connor," Mandaric told the Sheffield Star. "We tried to get hold of the people at Sunderland to see what was happening with him, then we heard from his agent that the club had done a deal with Leeds.
"It's very disappointing. He helped us and we appreciate it, but we kept winning games after he was gone. It would be totally wrong if we based all our team on one player."
Wednesday are 15th in the Championship, while Leeds are 10th.
