Sheffield Wednesday will hope talks with pair do not go the same way as Ipswich Town and Derby County stars

Time is on Wednesday’s side to negotiate the futures of Marvin Johnson and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, who the Owls confirmed to have been offered new deals to stay on at S6 in the announcement of their ‘released and retained’ list last week.

It is not uncommon for post-season negotiations to take a number of weeks and it should be made clear that as things stand, there is no standout reason for concern over the possibility of either player rejecting the club’s advances.

Both players, though, are entirely free to explore options elsewhere as free agents and would surely represent attractive options for clubs looking to bolster their squad. Wednesday contract offers made to three players last season - Massimo Luongo, Joe Wildsmith and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing - did not come to fruition with only Jack Hunt agreeing terms to extend.

All three departed players went on to enjoy stellar individual seasons

Wednesday sought to extend the contract of Dele-Bashiru early on in the 2022/23 season, negotiations reaching an advanced stage so said manager Darren Moore before the talks were shelved.

The 22-year-old former Manchester City man showed remarkable form in the early weeks of the campaign but by Moore’s admission seemed to lose focus as those negotiations dragged and interest from clubs at home and abroad became clear.

Only one of his nine direct goal involvements came after the new year but not turning 23 until February, Dele-Bashiru represents a hotly-rated prospect whose attributes are well suited to the second tier.

Johnson’s future would appear to be more straight-forward. The left-sided player has been a mainstay of Moore’s starting line-up since arriving on free agent terms in the summer of 2021. Only Barry Bannan has achieved more assists since the 32-year-old became a Wednesday player, with 17 direct goal involvements coming in the 2022/23 promotion campaign alone.

Moore has made plain his desire to get recruitment moving as early as the club managed last summer and would no doubt prefer for any existing limbo around the pair to be confirmed sooner rather than later.