Sheffield Wednesday ‘open talks’ with former Aston Villa and Leicester City manager

Football Insider claim that Dean Smith has been contacted by the Owls and that the pair are in discussions over the possibility of the 52-year-old making a return to Hillsborough to take on the task of steering their Championship return.

Having enjoyed stints at Brentford, Aston Villa and latterly Norwich City, he has plenty of second tier experience, achieving promotion with the Villians in 2019.

Smith’s last job came in the Premier League with Leicester City, taking on a short-term contract in April but failing to keep them in the top tier. He started out with Walsall.

As reported by The Star last week, the club were looking to press on in their managerial search in the coming days. Other managers are known to have been at least sounded-out and it is not known how advanced or exploratory any talks between Wednesday and Smith may have been.

The opening at Wednesday could well provide Smith with an opportunity to jump back into management at a club for whom he wore the captain’s armband in 62 senior appearances between 2002 and 2004.

Whoever is invited to take on the Wednesday role will do so with a job on their hands and plenty of work to complete on the recruitment side.

The Owls have 14 senior players on their books and with only a few weeks to go until their Friday night EFL curtain raiser against newly-relegated Southampton, the accelerator will have to be pressed on the season’s plans.