Sheffield Wednesday have four exciting academy players who could very soon make up the club’s new ‘spine’ under Danny Rohl.
Unlike a lot of his predecessors, Danny Rohl is placing a lot more emphasis on the youth academy at Sheffield Wednesday, and on promoting players from it.
Already under his watch we’ve seen the emergence of Bailey Cadamarteri which has paved the way for more and more Owls academy gems to come into the first-team.
Cadamarteri has joined Lincoln City on loan. He’s yet to score and has been in and out of the starting XI, but he’ll obviously return to Hillsborough as a more experienced and hopefully quality player next summer.
And next summer, Rohl may want Cadamarteri to be one of his regular Championship strikers with the likes of Michael Smith out of contract at the en of this season.
The 19-year-old could make the top of the future ‘spine’ of Rohl’s Sheffield Wednesday XI, along with three others.
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Sheffield Wednesday academy players making an impression
Along with Cadamarteri, Rohl has oversee the promotion of several other Owls youngsters, with another very exciting one being Pierce Charles.
The Northern Ireland U19s goalkeeper is currently playing no.2 to James Beadle. He’s impressed in Carabao Cup fixtures so far and looks as though he could be in contention to be no.1 next season, with Beadle set to return to Brighton.
In front of Charles, we could see a lot more of Gabriel Otegbayo next season; Rohl was impressed with Otegbayo’s performance vs Blackpool in the Carabao Cup last week.
Then in midfield, Sean Fusire has made his senior debut this season. He’s a very combative midfielder and another who Rohl has been impressed by.
And Rohl may even view 18-year-old Fusire as a possible heir to Barry Bannan at Wednesday.
Barry Bannan future at Sheffield Wednesday up in the air
Bannan signed a new Sheffield Wednesday contract this summer, but is widely thought to be out of contract next summer.
Rohl says that contract talks are already underway and with Bannan in scoring form right now, he might yet play himself towards another one-year extension.
At 34 though, Bannan is certainly nearing the end of his career, and Rohl has to pay attention to life after Bannan.
Bannan remains a focal point in the side with much of the play going through him. Fusire is quite a different player right now but at his young age, he can easily be moulded into the type of player that Rohl wants him to be.
It makes sense to get Fusire up to speed for when Bannan retires, and if he can start off as even half the player that Bannan is then he’ll quickly become a fan favourite.
But with Charles, Otegbayo, Fusire and Cadamarteri finally making their mark, it’s setting the foundations for a new-look Wednesday XI in years to come.