Sheffield Wednesday still 'attractive' to players despite possible wage restrictions - agent gives insight

Sheffield Wednesday will still be an ‘attractive’ move for many players this summer despite possible wage limitations.

The Owls will be playing in League One next season and they could start the campaign on minus 15 points and have to navigate budget restrictions following administration, although nothing has been confirmed yet. Suggestions of a £7m a year total wage cost and a £7,000 weekly wage cap are thought to have been a starting point for negotiations but are not expected. Talks are ongoing between potential new club owners Arise Capital Partners LLC, English Football League, Independent Football Regulator and administrators Begbies Traynor.

Experienced lawyer and sports agent, Garry Dickinson, who has represented many former Owls such as Kevin Pressman, Pavel Srníček, Emerson Thome, Juan Cobián and Andy Booth among dozens of other managers, coaches and players, has given The Star an insight into some of the challenges that Wednesday might face in what is set to be a huge rebuild this summer.

Dickinson, a consultant with Watkins and Gunn Solicitors in Cardiff, and a season ticket holder himself, said: “It will still be attractive coming to Wednesday because it is such a big club and a lot of players will want to come. I think some players would want to come to Wednesday no matter what. You have got two types of players from my experience. You have got those who it is all about money. Somebody is not going to come from £20,000 a week at another club and come to Wednesday for £7,000 for example. And agents won’t want that either because the more money a player is on the bigger the cut for the agent. But I think you are going to get a lot of young and hungry players who £7,000 is going to be a lot of money to.”

He continued: “If you are an agent or a lawyer, a player is asking you to get them the best deal, but what is the best deal? It is to play in a ground in front of 30,000 every week and who take thousands away or is it money? As a Wednesdayite, you think they are the best club in the world to you but a lot of players don’t look at it like we do. They don’t have any affiliation with the club - it is a job and it is money.

“It just depends how strong the player is. Over the years I have had experiences with a lot of agents and sometimes it is the best move for them and not the player. There are some very good agents out there. They can have a lot of influence but the final decision is always going to be made by the player. And, more than ever, families are involved now.”

There are several considerations when it comes to predicting what Wednesday’s summer recruitment might look like, such as what other clubs in League One might be willing to pay players. For example, Dickinson is aware of one club in that division who has a small number of players who are currently earning more than £20,000 per week. Then there are the other teams who will come down with Wednesday from the Championship and those who might unexpectedly throw money at it as they gamble everything on promotion.

Other talking points are what type of players Wednesday want to recruit and what their style of play is going to be. With Dickinson’s work taking him to lots of League One matches this season, his impression is that you need big, strong, physical players, which is the route they went down last time under Darren Moore. And the approach of the new ownership is another factor. Will they want to build slowly or go for it from the off? These are the many unanswered questions ahead of the summer.

Interestingly, Dickinson, who has negotiated new contracts, transfers, kit deals, boot deals, represented players in ice hockey and boxing and won high-profile sports injury cases, said that the wages being paid in League One are a ‘million miles away’ from what they were when Wednesday were last at that level and that was only in 2023, which matches up with research from football finance expert Kieran Maguire which has revealed clubs in the third tier are losing more than £100,000 per week.

If a wage restriction was applied, although again it is important to stress that no decision has been made yet, Dickinson estimates Wednesday could be in the same market as the likes of Stockport County, Bradford City, Wigan Athletic and Leyton Orient but behind Cardiff City, Bolton Wanderers, Huddersfield Town, Luton Town and Plymouth Argyle, although one or two of those could get promoted.

On the big task of trying to attract players, Dickinson said: “It is going to be a case of, is Sheffield Wednesday a stable club? There could be crowds of 25,000 next season. Some players would walk to Sheffield for that. That will be attractive to a lot of players but is it attractive enough to take a drop in wages? I can think of two players who I represented. One was the move, it wasn’t the best for his career, but the money was. One at a Premier League club was a contract negotiation and the money was unbelievable but he wasn’t going to be number one. My argument then was that you want to be able to say to your grandkids and your kids that you played 50,100, 200 times for this club in the Premier League.

“It is a job which a lot of fans don’t understand, I think. Consequently, it is hard for people to believe that everyone wouldn’t want to sign for Wednesday because they are a great club. But it is about paying your mortgage and making enough money to support yourself later.”