Henrik Pedersen may have landed Sheffield Wednesday quadruple League One promotion key | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday are all but relegated from the Championship, but their January transfer business could come in useful in League One next season.

With their relegation to League One on the verge of being confirmed, many Sheffield Wednesday supporters are already turning their attention to next season.

Wednesday are currently on a club record 24-game winless run, with their last victory coming all the way back in mid-September, and they have failed to score a single goal in their last nine matches in all competitions.

The Owls currently sit bottom of the Championship table on minus seven points, and they are a huge 39 points from safety with just 16 games remaining, meaning their relegation could be confirmed before the end of the month.

While the on-field situation is incredibly bleak for Wednesday, it remains an uncertain period off the pitch, with the club still in administration as they await news on whether James Bord's consortium will be given approval by the EFL to complete their takeover.

With so much still up in the air, it is difficult to know what shape the Owls will be in by the time their League One season kicks off in August, but their recent January transfer window activity could provide a glimpse into the future.

Sheffield Wednesday's turbulent January transfer window could have long-term benefits

With no new owner in place, it was always likely to be a tough January transfer window for Wednesday, and that certainly proved to be the case.

In order to raise funds to help the Owls get through the season, defender Yisa Alao was sold to Chelsea for an initial fee of £500,000 and striker Bailey Cadamarteri made a £1 million move to Wrexham, while long-serving captain Barry Bannan called time on his Hillsborough career after more than a decade as he joined Millwall.

There were also further exits during the winter window, with Manchester United defender Harry Amass departing at the end of his loan spell to make a temporary switch to Norwich City, and winger Nathan Redmond left following the expiry of his short-term contract.

While Wednesday's ability to do business in the transfer market remains severely restricted, they were allowed to bring in five loan signings, with goalkeeper Murphy Cooper, defender Tayo Adaramola, midfielder Jaden Heskey, winger Joel Ndala and striker Jerry Yates all arriving in S6.

The Owls were also given the green light to make one permanent addition in the form of midfielder Marvelous Nakamba, who had his contract at Luton Town terminated to enable him to join the South Yorkshire outfit on a free transfer.

With their Championship fate virtually sealed, the late flurry of transfer activity is unlikely to change Wednesday's fortunes this season, but the deals could come in useful in League One.

Sheffield Wednesday may be thankful to Henrik Pedersen for January transfer business

While there is no guarantee that they will be able to secure their return for next season, Cooper, Adaramola, Heskey and Ndala are all players who could potentially excel for Wednesday in League One.

Cooper has already proven his ability in the third tier after spending the first half of the season on loan at Barnsley, and he has certainly impressed since his arrival at Hillsborough, so the QPR man could be a strong replacement for Pierce Charles, who is expected to depart the club in the summer after recent interest from the likes of West Ham United, Rangers and Strasbourg.

Adaramola has plenty of EFL experience under his belt, having had loan spells with the likes of Coventry City, Stockport County, Bradford City and, most recently, Leyton Orient, and with first-team opportunities likely to be limited at parent club Crystal Palace next season, the Eagles may be open to loaning him back to the Owls.

Like Cooper, Heskey has also shown moments of quality during the early stages of his time with Wednesday, and his fellow Manchester City team-mate Ndala scored two goals in 19 appearances during his temporary spell with Championship promotion hopefuls Hull City before his time at the MKM Stadium was cut short.

Given that both players have previously performed well in the second tier, it is even possible that the Owls could look to retain Nakamba and Yates for next season, but their lack of impact at Luton Town this campaign suggests they may not be particularly suited to League One.

As he has won just one of his 34 games in charge so far, it looks unlikely that Pedersen will stay on as manager next season, but the Dane's reputation for developing young talent has been crucial in securing deals for Cooper, Adaramola, Heskey and Ndala, so Wednesday will be grateful to him if they were to contribute to a promotion push, even if he is not the man to oversee it.

With the vast majority of their squad out of contract, the Owls are facing a huge rebuild in the summer, but they may just have found four pieces of the puzzle as they look to challenge for an immediate return to the Championship.