Sheffield Wednesday: Ruthless four-in-five cull shows Darren Moore’s desire to move things on at Hillsborough

Whatever happens, the changing room at Sheffield Wednesday will be a very different place this season. As it was at the start of the season just gone.
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The Owls have a lot to do between now and the season opener on July 30. Or, at least, when the summer transfer window closes on September 1.

With three senior players released and the loan masses departed, the club’s recruitment team will be working overtime with Owls boss Darren Moore to ensure his squad is as replete as possible when they return to Middlewood Road on June 20.

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Sheffield Wednesday boss Darren Moore.Sheffield Wednesday boss Darren Moore.
Sheffield Wednesday boss Darren Moore.
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And however many new faces report for training that day, the make-up of the squad will no doubt reflect a wind of change Moore has ploughed on with since he was first given the opportunity with the Owls released and retained list last summer.

Of the first matchday squad Moore named as Wednesday only just 15 months ago, only four of the 18 outfield players named – Barry Bannan, Liam Palmer, Josh Windass and Callum Paterson – still play for Wednesday.

It means that nearly four in five outfield players in that squad have moved on, a remarkable change in such a short period of time. Moore has been helped with the contract end dates of several players but has seen the club receive fees for Andre Green and Julian Borner.

Add this clear-out progress onto the work done by Garry Monk in letting players go in the summer of 2020 and the club is undertaking a period of huge change.

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Not that Moore’s vision has been a blind cull, of course. He has awarded new contracts to the likes of Barry Bannan, Dominic Iorfa, Josh Windass and Liam Palmer, players he believes can forge things forward alongside a changing room of fresh blood.

The lifting of transfer restrictions this summer offers the club the opportunity to continue this transformation. Links to established League One talents such as Jayden Stockley and younger EFL names such as Brendan Wiredu hint at what’s to come, perhaps.

It’s going to be a busy few weeks at S6.