Clarity on player exit status as Yan Valery club considers situation at Sheffield Wednesday
The focus at Sheffield Wednesday is very much on player additions - rather than player exits.
A timeline has been put in place that will see decisions made over the Sheffield Wednesday future of Yan Valery - with no immediate prospect of other Owls players leaving the club this window as things stand.
That’s according to Wednesday boss Henrik Pedersen, who has suggested the Tunisia international is considering his own future with the club but suggested their is no sign that he is downing tools at Middlewood Road amid a mutual ‘respect’ for where things are at.
Valery has been of interest to other clubs and last week the Danish coach said a time would come in the window where a call would be made on whether the club looks to cash-in and reinvest in the wages of incoming players including loanee targets - or keep a player whose quality would surely be among the highest in the third tier. The window closes on September 1 but Pedersen suggested a call would be made long before that.
“We had a dialogue with Yan about this and here we have a very respectful relationship in this,” he told The Star. “There is no doubt that Yan is a strong player and there is no doubt that we can also see Yan stay at Sheffield Wednesday.
“This is where the dialogue is, so let's see what happens in the next one week, 10 days. I think Yan also considers his own situation right now and I can only say that it looks like Yan is happy. Let's see what happens in the next one week or 10 days.”
Wednesday’s squad requires further fleshing out despite what has already been a manic summer of rebuild at Hillsborough and speaking ahead of Saturday’s League One opener at Leyton Orient made clear that while there was nothing especially imminent in terms of player additions, a strategy was in place to ensure vital positions are filled in what is expected to be a busy end to the window across the board.
On the possibility of any further players leaving the club beside perhaps Valery, Pedersen said simply: “Right now there is nothing concrete for any players, right now.”
That did seem to leave the door ajar on some level of contact from clubs in terms of interest in one or two Wednesday figures. The Dane conceded last week that in the case of Valery, a decision would have to be made on whether to keep a player of his quality, or cede to moving him on as they open up further opportunities in attacking areas with the combination of the loss of his wages and the receipt of an up-front transfer fee.
Pedersen made clear that despite recruitment restrictions the club were not in a position where they needed to sell to bring players in and pressed on whether some wheeling and dealing might be useful, said: “We have to be open to see this situation too. But most of our energy is going to which players can we get in, how can we be stronger instead of sending players.”