Sheffield Wednesday retained list latest as discussions continue with senior players

Several of the players in question have jetted off on holiday following their final match of the campaign, which secured their safety in the Championship courtesy of a 2-0 win at Sunderland. The club have time to continue discussions and inform players of their decisions, with the deadline for formally letting players know falling next weekend.

A raft of senior players at Wednesday are approaching the end of their deals, some of whom have one-year extension clauses that can be enacted by the club. The likes of Barry Bannan and Josh Windass are understood to have been in discussions with the club regarding new deals, while Lee Gregory has announced his departure.

The status of further players is unknown. The club are believed to have options on the Callum Paterson and Reece James, while Liam Palmer, Will Vaulks, Di’Shon Bernard, Dominic Iorfa, Marvin Johnson, George Byers and Cameron Dawson are all approaching the end of their contracts.

FA rules stipulate clubs must notify their soon to be out of contract players of whether or not they are to be retained by the third Saturday in May, which this year falls on May 18. Wednesday players kept on are expected to report back for initial pre-season training at the end of June.

The rule reads: “Any club wishing to re-engage a contract player whose contract is due to expire on 30 June must notify him in writing by the third Saturday in May in the final year of his contract whether or not they offer him terms of re engagement specifying (where applicable) such terms.”

It is then up to the clubs to publish the decisions made at their leisure, though the EFL publish all clubs’ retained lists on the second Saturday in June. They’ll do so this year on June 8, though Wednesday are expected to publish well before that date.

The Owls released their retained list much later than usual last season - on June 2 - because of their involvement in the League One play-off final.