Callum Paterson set for Sheffield Wednesday return? 'I don't know if that's what he's looking for' | OneFootball

FLW's Sheffield Wednesday fan pundit is unsure that Callum Paterson would turn down regular game time to return to Hillsborough

Sheffield Wednesday are set to begin life back in League One in August, and they're interested in bringing back one of their heroes from their last promotion campaign to help engineer another one.

Callum Paterson played a big role in the 'Miracle of Hillsborough,' scoring one of the goals in the 5-1 win over Peterborough United to overturn a four-goal deficit from the first leg of their play-off semi-finals to win on penalties.

Three years on from that season, and one year following his departure from Wednesday to MK Dons, amidst the financial mismanagement during the final months of former owner Dejphon Chansiri, the new higher-ups are "considering" bringing the 31-year-old back, per the Wednesday Word.

Paterson made 186 appearances over five seasons at Sheffield Wednesday, but his role in the side diminished slightly over that spell, to the point where he started just 14 Championship games during the 2024/25 campaign.

At MK Dons, he's shown this past season that he can still be an effective frontman if given the opportunity, albeit in League Two. He netted 16 times and assisted a further eight goals for Paul Warne's side en route to promotion, and will be playing third-tier football next season.

The question is, which League One side will he be lining out for?

Sheffield Wednesday fan pundit questions if Callum Paterson would want to return to Hillsborough after MK Dons resurgence

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Paterson has not only seen his role improve in the MK Dons fold this past season, but last year also saw him play predominantly as a striker once more, which is arguably his favoured position.

The 31-year-old has had a peculiar career when it comes to where he's played, as he transitioned from a defender during his time at Hearts to a midfielder at Cardiff City, and now he's a potent striker, but at Wednesday, especially in his final few years, he was deployed everywhere, but in goal, it seemed.

At MK Dons, he has the opportunity to showcase his attacking talents in League One, and FLW's Sheffield Wednesday fan pundit, Patrick McKenna, questions whether he'd want to swap that for a return to Hillsborough, where that wouldn't be a guarantee.

"I think that the return of Callum Paterson is an interesting one," he said. "It does seem like he was happy last season at MK Dons.

"He was finally getting regular football in one position — his preferred position — and, as a result, he had one of the best attacking returns of his career.

"Although he has good memories of his time at Hillsborough, he admitted in his final few seasons that he was frustrated with the lack of game time. Now that he has it, would he give it up?"

Ahead of the new season, Wednesday almost need a squad overhaul, as they look to rebuild from the ashes of Dejphon Chansiri's reign, which saw their senior squad gutted over the past 12 months and replaced with veterans, inexperienced academy players and loanees.

A whole host of different roles will need to be filled in the ongoing transfer window, and while McKenna admits that Paterson's arrival would provide good experience and plenty of versatility, he doesn't guarantee he'll start each week, which you feel could be the case at Stadium MK.

"I do like Paterson a lot, and I thought he got too much criticism during his time at Hillsborough, the fan pundit continued.

"He would certainly bring experience and an ability to play in different positions — he'd be a valuable squad player. But I don't know if that's what he's looking for at this stage of his career, to go back to being a utility man.

"I don't think we should bring him back if he should be starting every week. He'd be a good influence around the club, a strong squad player, but I wouldn't see him starting every week.

"However, this potential signing would obviously be part of Simon Wilson's strategy, so we'll just have to see what happens."

Sheffield Wednesday fans are ready to trust the new project

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As McKenna said, any new signing would be part of the new strategy at Sheffield Wednesday, led by the new sporting director, Simon Wilson.

The addition of Wilson has been a very exciting one, as he was credited with a lot of the recent success at Stockport County, overseeing their rise from the National League to the cusp of the Championship as Director of Football and CEO.

The sporting director role wasn't used under the ownership of Dejphon Chansiri, so, understandably, a lot of Wednesday fans are almost blindly trusting the new-look board to make the right decisions to better position themselves not just for the upcoming campaign, but for years to come, too.

Whether that involves bringing Paterson back to Hillsborough is still to be seen. Wednesday arguably have enough veteran heads to help aid this transition at the club, with the likes of Liam Palmer and Jamal Lowe under contract, Liam Cooper likely to extend, and Barry Bannan possibly to return, too.

If the 31-year-old does return to play an important role this summer, there'll be some sections of the fanbase who will react to the return positively, and even the more skeptical members of the fanbase will likely accept it as part of the new era.