Exclusive:Josh Windass set for spicy Sheffield United reception v Wrexham as transfer approach detailed amid Sheffield Wednesday chaos
Josh Windass set for spicy Sheffield United reception v Wrexham after sensational transfer approach amid Sheffield Wednesday chaos
After two games on the road, Sheffield United return to Bramall Lane this weekend for an intriguing clash with play-off chasing Wrexham. Games against the Red Dragons in recent years have usually been spicy affairs and the return fixture earlier this season, a 5-3 defeat in South Wales on Boxing Day, was no exception.
One player singled out for special attention that day was Josh Windass, the former Wednesday man who moved to Wrexham after effectively tearing up his contract with United’s city rivals amid their much-publicised financial troubles in the summer.
Wednesday’s players could have handed in their notice during that tumultuous period which saw salaries go repeatedly unpaid, but Windass and striker Michael Smith, who later joined Paul Heckingbottom’s Preston North End, were the only two to follow through and depart.
And The Star has since been told that Windass’ representatives had made exploratory contact with officials at Bramall Lane about the possibility of a sensational cross-city move before he eventually joined Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s Hollywood project in the summer.
Josh Windass set for spicy Sheffield United reception v Wrexham after sensational transfer approach amid Sheffield Wednesday chaos
That would have seen him follow in the footsteps of his father Dean, who also played for both Sheffield clubs during his own career, and wouldn’t have been the first time he had donned a United shirt, having done so as a youngster when his dad was at Bramall Lane. But the idea is not understood to have progressed too far past that initial contact phase.
Windass went on to score from the penalty spot in that Boxing Day cracker and had done little to endear himself further to Unitedites a month earlier. On punditry duty for Sky Sports, Windass said he “wasn’t sure about all those celebrations” after United’s 3-0 stroll over their rivals at Hillsborough.
All those elements add up to an interesting sub-plot for a game that could see United cut the gap between themselves and sixth-placed Wrexham to seven points at a key stage of the season. Phil Parkinson’s men missed the chance in midweek to go 13 clear of the Blades when they lost at Watford, who are one of many clubs that still have realistic hopes of snatching a late play-off spot.