Sheffield Wednesday have a number of players out of contract next summer, with some of them key players.
Sheffield Wednesday have 10 players out of contract next summer; Di’Shon Bernard, Will Vaulks, Liam Palmer, Dominic Iorfa, Barry Bannan, Cameron Dawson, Josh Windass, Tyreeq Bakinson, George Byers, and Lee Gregory.
And when adding to that list the five players who are currently on loan at Hillsborough; Jeff Hendrick, John Buckley, Devis Vasquez, Momo Diaby, and Ashley Fletcher, Sheffield Wednesday’s first-team squad could look drastically different come the start of the 2024/25 campaign.
But boss Danny Rohl already has an eye on player contracts, and the German says that he has a list of players who he wants to be handed new deals.
Danny Rohl hoping for contract talks in the coming weeks
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Championship clash vs Cardiff City, Rohl revealed that he has a list of players who he’d like to be handed new deals before next season.
He told The Star:
“I have a list of who I want to extend. And this is for the next weeks and months, we have to do it… I have to speak to the players and agents to give them a signal of which direction we’re moving in, and it’s a big topic. Honestly though, right now our position is that we have to fight to stay in the league and then we have to look in both directions.
“We can’t close our eyes, we have to prepare for both. But yeah, we have a clear plan of what we want to do in the next weeks and months. It’s important that we know this, but even though I know it’s exciting for people with rumours I will not talk so much about this topic. If there’s something then I’ll tell you and the supporters, but just know that we’re doing all we can behind the scenes.”
Sheffield Wednesday remain six points adrift in 23rd place of the Championship table and so right now, the main focus remains getting out of the bottom three.
But with so many players coming to the end of their deals next summer, it’s difficult for Rohl and co not to give some thought to it.
And it’s also another sign of poor planning and mismanagement from the Wednesday officials before Rohl to have so many players out of contract at the same time.
Change in the air at Sheffield Wednesday
There’ll definitely be some big changes in personnel next year.
The Sheffield Wednesday squad is somewhat inflated but not necessarily brimming with quality; for the Owls over the past few years, summer transfer windows seem to have been about quantity rather than quality.
And whilst Rohl will want a big first-team squad so that he can rotate and keep things fresh in his more aggressive and high-energy system, he’ll also be tasked with keeping the club’s wage bill tight.
That’ll mean some, if not many players leaving the club next summer, and new ones coming in.
Rohl has already said he wants younger players to come in. That way, Rohl can shape them into the players he wants and he could probably get more energy and work-rate out of younger legs, so expect signing younger players to be the main focus for Wednesday next year.
Again though, right now, the main focus is getting points on the board.
Sheffield Wednesday go up against Cardiff this weekend in another tough game at Hillsborough, but a game that could well be there for the taking.
The Bluebirds have enjoyed a strong season so far but they’ve lost four of their last five now and sit in 12th, so they’ll surely be wary of playing a Wednesday side who’ve won three of their last four in the Championship.