New twist in Sheffield Wednesday’s pursuit of Chelsea’s Michael Hector

Steve Bruce wants to bring the Owls player of the year back to club and Hector himself has expressed his hopes of playing at Hillsborough next season, but power over the 26-year-old’s future lies with his parent club Chelsea.

And the Blues have just been handed a transfer blow of their own that could affect where Hector ends up next season.

Chelsea have lost their appeal against a transfer ban that will stop them signing new players for the next two transfer windows, after they were found to have broken rules when signing international players under the age of 18.

That means that the Stamford Bridge club will not be able to bring any new recruits in until the end of January 2020’s transfer window – unless they are under the age of 16.

And while Chelsea can still appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, it looks like they might have to turn to some of their 41 loan players to bolster their squad.

Hector, along with fellow Blues loanees Tammy Abraham, Reece James and Tomas Kalas, has impressed in the Championship this season.

So could the Owls target have a future at Chelsea?

There are fresh rumours that recently relegated, cash rich Fulham are interested in signing Hector too, so only time will tell...