Barry Bannan should be in the Premier League, says Wednesday boss Carvalhal

Sheffield Wednesday boss Carlos Carvalhal is baffled how Barry Bannan has fallen out of the Premier League.
Carlos Carvalhal and Barry BannanCarlos Carvalhal and Barry Bannan
Carlos Carvalhal and Barry Bannan

But the Owls head coach is confident the Scotland international will get back their one day after penning a new deal with the Owls.

The 26-year-old has been instrumental in Wednesday's top-six challenge, earning rave reviews for his silky performances.

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And after several rounds of talks, Bannan has finally agreed a new contract, tying him down to the Hillsborough club until the summer of 2019.

Carvalhal said: "It’s fantastic news. I know Barry very well - like Gary Hooper when he was at Celtic - I saw a lot of games, and are players that I have known of for a long time.

"Barry is a player I know, a small guy but with a big talent on the ball. He’s a player that we like and we can improve the player.

"It’s a situation where everybody is happy, the coach, the chairman, fans and his colleagues - because they like him a lot.

Barry BannanBarry Bannan
Barry Bannan
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"When you choose players, you must have a philosophy of how you want to play, an idea.

"Like and engineer or architect building a house, first of all they must create a picture.

"If you don’t create a picture they don’t know what they will do.

"When you create a picture in your brain, you know exactly what you want, and you must follow the correct persons to try and develop your idea.

Barry BannanBarry Bannan
Barry Bannan
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"Barry belongs to Sheffield Wednesday, he believes in our project, and he’s ambitious, like the club.

"We believe in the future the club can fly to another situation (promotion).

"It’s strange to me, that this player doesn’t play in the Premier League. He has the ability to play in the Premier League in England, because he is a fantastic player.

"We are very happy to be with him, because he has abilities to play at another level.

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"But he is very happy here and belongs in the idea that we have as a team. He loves the football, and prefers to stay here."

Another individual who recently committed his long-term future to the club is Jack Hunt. Following his productive loan spell, Hunt's deal was turned into a permanent transfer on Wednesday.

Carvalhal said: "We are happy to have tied Barry and Jack down. They are happy here and enjoy the club. They like the club and both since the first weeks said they wanted to stay here permanently. We are happy about that and that our players enjoy the type of game we are playing.

"We have also Liam Palmer, a balanced player on the right side. Jack is similar, probably a little better in attack, Liam a little better in his defensive organisation.

"Jack has developed his defensive side with us. We are very happy to have two players who can play in this position."