Sheffield Wednesday contract talk latest with Owls aware of pre-contract threat

A vast portion of Wednesday's squad are approaching the end of their current deals in the summer, meaning that from next week clubs outside of England will be able to freely negotiate pre-contract deals with them and take them on free transfers.

Reports emerged this week linking midfield man Tyreeq Bakinson with a switch to Belgian side Standard Liege, while the likes of Josh Windass and Dominic Iorfa are both understood to have been of interest to foreign clubs in recent windows. Barry Bannan, Liam Palmer, Cameron Dawson are among the other players understood to be entering the final months of their present deals.

Wednesday are entering what could be a busy January transfer window, with Röhl having explained on a handful of occasions he has a clear roadmap in his mind with regard to the changes he hopes to make.

Asked whether the club were likely to consider the negotiation of new deals that would eliminate the threat of pre-contract switches, Röhl told The Star: "For sure we will do this. But it is on both sides, you know? If you are in our situation then sometimes the club want to extend a contract but the player is maybe waiting to see some other situations. We will see in the next weeks what we can do and I have this also in my mind.

"I have ideas for the short term but also for the long term and what we can prepare for the summer. At the moment it is about health, we have two weeks with the cup and then we have to go to Southampton and by this time hopefully we can do something in the transfer market."