Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan has compared one of his former Owls teammates to Rio Ferdinand.
Sheffield Wednesday captain and long-time fan favourite Barry Bannan has recently named his all-time Owls XI.
Bannan signed a new Sheffield Wednesday contract ahead of the upcoming 2024/25 Championship season, after his previous deal expired at the end of the last campaign.
The 27-cap former Scotland international is now entering his 10th season at Hillsborough and will add to his 402 career appearances for Sheffield Wednesday, who may surprise a few in the Championship next season.
Danny Rohl has completely changed the outlook of the club, both on and off the pitch, with Sheffield Wednesday having signed nine new players already this summer.
But naming his all-time Sheffield Wednesday XI, a lot of former players featured for Bannan, with one of his centre-back selections perhaps raising a few eyebrows; Julian Borner.
Barry Bannan compares former Sheffield Wednesday man Julian Borner to Rio Ferdinand
Speaking to the club’s YouTube channel, Bannan named Borner as one of the two centre-backs in his all-time Sheffield Wednesday.
Borner, now 33, made 70 total appearances for the Owls between 2019 and 2021, scoring four goals.
But Bannan spoke highly of Borner when naming his all-time Sheffield Wednesday, saying: “He didn’t look like a footballer, but so technically-gifted on the ball.”
Bannan added: “I enjoyed playing with Jules because he was an old-fashioned centre-half, but on the ball he was amazing.
“He never really wanted to clear it. Little things that stood out for me, about Jules, like he used to go up for a header; you get a lot of centre-halves who would just head it clear, but he would nod it down to you and turn it into a pass and you would start an attack.
“He was the perfect centre-half for me,” Bannan continued: “You don’t imagine him to be a footballer.
“But then when you actually give him the ball, he starts training, he’ll come out dead lazy and look as though he’s just woken up 10 minutes ago, then he gets the ball and he turns into Rio Ferdinand.”
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What is former Sheffield Wednesday man Julian Borner up to these days
Borner returned to his native Germany in 2021, leaving Sheffield Wednesday for Hannover 96 and going on to make 60 total appearances for the club in three years.
But Borner terminated his contract at the start of July due to an ongoing ankle injury which meant that he featured just four times in the 2. Bundesliga last season.
Like Bannan says, though, Borner was a very classy centre-back for Sheffield Wednesday, and arguably his skill set was a bit before his time, much like six-time Premier League-winner Ferdinand during his prime years.
And he was part of the Sheffield Wednesday side that was eventually relegated, playing under various managers with varying degrees of success.
But if a fit and firing Borner was with Sheffield Wednesday now, he could well be a starter under Rohl.