Sheffield Wednesday have announced their retained list today and surprisingly Fisayo Dele-Bashiru has been offered a new contract. Six senior players have all extended their stay at Hillsborough as Darren Moore gears up for the Championship
Barry Bannan, Liam Palmer, Lee Gregory, Josh Windass, George Byers and Dominic Iorfa have all extended their stay at Wednesday. Dennis Adeniran, Jaden Brown, Sam Durrant, Ryan Galvin, Ben Heneghan, Jack Hunt and David Stockdale will all depart.
Two loan players have also left the Owls. Aden Flint is now a free agent after Stoke City released him a few weeks ago, whilst Reece James has returned to Blackpool after starring in the play-offs.
It’s perhaps the news that Dele-Bashiru has been offered a new deal that comes as the biggest surprise. The youngster has started just 12 League One games all season and has barely featured for the Owls since Christmas.
Dele-Bashiru has been offered a new deal along with two other players. Callum Paterson and Marvin Johnson are the other two play-off heroes to be offered fresh terms at Hillsborough.
German-born midfielder Bashiru has been with the Owls since 2020. He joined the club from the academy at Manchester City and has made 86 appearances for the club over the last three years.
Darren Moore is, however, a big fan of Dele-Bashiru. He called him ‘exceptional’ following a win over MK Dons back during the 2021/22 campaign and clearly, he values his input.
Following that same game, Wednesday skipper Barry Bannan also heaped praise on him. He called him ‘brilliant’ and claimed that he had ability that other players in the Owls’ dressing room haven’t.
Wednesday surprisingly offer Dele-Bashiru a new deal
The caveat to this is that the 22-year-old might not sign the new contract. He may see himself playing more frequent football at another club and choose to depart Wednesday this summer.
Since Christmas, the midfielder has barely started a game for the Owls. He started during a 1-1 draw over Bolton in March and was also named in the starting eleven for the dead rubber against Derby on the final day.
Dele-Bashiru does have a lot of potential. However, Wednesday will be hoping to attract some real quality this summer and as a result, it does seem a somewhat odd decision to offer a new deal in this instance.