Sheffield Wednesday are in a good vein of form right now. But 2024 could present the club with some huge obstacles.
Sheffield Wednesday have won three out of their last four in the Championship under the impressive Danny Rohl.
The German has become a huge favourite among the Wednesday fans, having given the Owls a fighting chance of survival in the league.
His side still sit six points adrift. But there’s a growing sense that Sheffield Wednesday can beat the drop, with recent form serving to prove that idea.
But next year will present Rohl and the club with some fresh issues to consider; perhaps, most notably, the amount of players out of contract at Hillsborough in 2024.
Who’s out of contract next summer?
As per Transfermarkt, all of Di’Shon Bernard, Will Vaulks, Tyreeq Bakinson, Josh Windass, Cameron Dawson, Dominic Iorfa, George Byers, Barry Bannan, Liam Palmer, and Lee Gregory are out of contract.
Then there’s the loan players who will see their deals expire at some point in 2024; Jeff Hendrick, John Buckley, Ashley Fletcher, Momo Diaby, and Devis Vasquez.
That takes out around half of the current first-team at Sheffield Wednesday, obviously with some key names in there too.
As things stand, what Wednesday’s XI look like next season?
With that in mind, here’s what Sheffield Wednesday’s XI could look like at the start of next season…
NEW GOALKEEPER
Famewo
NEW CENTRE-BACK
Diaby
Reed
NEW CENTRAL MIDFIELDER
NEW CENTRAL MIDFIELDER
NEW CENTRAL MIDFIELDER
Gassama
Musaba
Cadamarteri
Who will be kept on?
On those out of contract, we will likely see the likes of Bakinson and Gregory released, if not sold in the January transfer window with both currently out of favour; neither player has played since October.
Then there’s names like Palmer, Iorfa, Windass, and Dawson who’ve all faced criticism from fans at times this season, but who are all playing their parts under Rohl.
Palmer and Iorfa make up Wednesday’s right-backs so it’s hard to see both leaving, though with Palmer having not looked great in his last few performances, Iorfa may be the one who’s kept on.
Windass looked sharp before his current injury and so there’s a case to be made for him, whilst Dawson may well be playing for his future after a mixed season so far.
But expect names like Bannan, Bernard, and Vaulks to be handed new deals in good time; the trip have been some of Sheffield Wednesday’s best performers this season, especially Vaulks who’s played an influential role in this upturn in form.
Bannan is obviously a club legend and is starting to look like his best again under Rohl, who’s passing game suits Bannan’s attributes, whilst Bernard is a huge fan favourite and someone that supporters want to see kept on.
Byers is a tricky one. He played well last season and became a bit of a fan favourite after a strong showing in League One, and he’s started nine of Rohl’s 11 games in charge, but has only finished one, often being hauled off early in the second half.
Thoughts?
We will no doubt see new signings before next season, so whether or not the likes of Bannan, Bernard, Palmer and so on are kept, we’ll likely see a vastly different XI at the start of next season to what we’re seeing now.
Expect contract renewal talks to ramp up after the January transfer window, though we should also expect the club to take the chance to move on some deadwood next month or next summer, and replace them with youngsters that Rohl can start to build a new-look Sheffield Wednesday around.