Exclusive:Two notable absences from Sheffield Wednesday pre-season meet spark exits hint
Sheffield Wednesday players made a return to pre-season training on Thursday morning, with an initial testing stage to run up until the weekend.
The Owls off-season has been loaded with turbulence, with many players reporting for duty still unpaid their May wages, with uncertainty surrounding this Monday’s expected pay day for June payments. With improvements to their Middlewood Road training base as of yet unfinished, it’s understood that workarounds had to be put in place - with only some testing methods having taken place.
The make-up of Wednesday’s squad going forward is cause for further uncertainty, with restrictions on who the club can sign already in place due to their continued off-field struggles. In terms of outgoings, there remains no confirmation on the futures of Barry Bannan, Callum Paterson and Akin Famewo, who have been offered new deals per the club’s retained list. Amid the chaos, these deals remain unsigned.
The Star has previously reported the commitment of captain Bannan to the club and that his desire to stay on and finish his career at Hillsborough remains. The former Scotland international was pictured at Middlewood Road this morning.
It’s understood, however, that with days remaining on their current Wednesday deals neither Callum Paterson or Akin Famewo were present at the training ground. Both players are understood to be the subject of interest from elsewhere and with little clarity on the future of the League One promotion-winning pair, it would further hint at a possible double-exit from the continued turbulence of life at S6.
The Star reported over a month ago that discussions with both Paterson and Famewo required further negotiation and amid continued disturbance it is not believed these have taken a positive step forward. It is also not known whether the duo, who have 259 Owls appearances between them, are among the first team players still awaiting May wage payments.
As reported by The Star on Wednesday evening, Owls boss Danny Röhl was not present at the first day of pre-season as negotiations with the club around his exit from the club continue.
Where the building of the squad goes from here remains to be seen. Wednesday remain under the constraints of a registration embargo - which will be lifted in the event of all outstanding payments being satisfied - but will remain under a three-window ‘transfer ban’, which will broadly limit incoming transfer deals to free transfers and non-fee loan agreements.