Sheffield Wednesday transfer window state of play – where Owls stand on new deals, new signings and exits

And while the Owls are yet to welcome any new faces to S6, there is work ongoing behind the scenes.

From fresh contract talks to potential incomings, here’s the state of play at Wednesday on day 14 of the window.

New deals

Wednesday got a raft of key players signed up to new contracts last year, meaning there isn’t the same level of conversation about contracts there has been in the last couple of seasons.

Barry Bannan extended his stay before relegation from the Championship was confirmed, while Josh Windass, Dominic Iorfa and Liam Palmer were all nailed down to new deals in the months that followed.

Darren Moore confirmed that the club were in discussions with young defender Ciaran Brennan over a new deal. As it stands, the 21-year-old is out of contract in the summer.

Moore had spoken of initial conversations over a new deal for Callum Paterson earlier in the season, though he later said that these had been shelved. Wednesday have an extension option on the Scot that would take his contract to the end of the 2022/23 campaign.

New signings

There’s nothing especially imminent in terms of incomings from what we can gather.

Several League One clubs have been able to add to their squads but the wait goes on at Wednesday, who have traditionally done the bulk of their January business late in the window.

Circumstances haven’t helped, with clubs stockpiling players to guard against Covid-19 outbreaks and the risk of injury in squeezed fixture schedules.

And while work on as-yet-unknown targets will be going on behind the scenes, there are are a small handful of players that are known to be of interest to the Owls.

Brighton youngster Haydon Roberts – a left-footed centre-half that appears to tick several of Moore’s boxes – is a potential option, though the club face stern competition from Championship sides in Swansea, Cardiff and Nottingham Forest.

Wednesday will hope Moore’s contacts at Brighton will win out over opportunities in the division above.

There’s also interest in Chelsea midfielder Tariq Uwakwe, who trialled with the club in the summer. The Premier League giants have lowered their sell-on fee demands from 40% to something between 15% and 20%, a switch that has alerted a number of rivals to his availability.

Uwakwe spent time training with Portsmouth, who are said to be interested, earlier this season, while there are also admiring glances from some Scottish clubs.

Among the other players linked with a potential Wednesday switch are former Owl Mark Beevers and free agent Josh Sims.

The central focus is very much on defensive reinforcements.

Outgoings

Major outgoings are not expected in this window, with the focus very much on strengthening the squad.

There has been chatter among supporters about Josh Windass’ continued absence, but that is down to injury and as it stands there is little chance of him moving on. The same goes for Dominic Iorfa.

The return of youth players Alex Hunt, Ryan Galvin and Charles Hagan from their non-league loan stints suggests there may well be movement there.

League Two clubs have been made aware of Hunt’s availability. It remains to be seen which youngsters are moved back out – and where.