Henrik Pedersen claim suggests shock Sheffield Wednesday, Barry Bannan decision could happen | OneFootball

The Owls manager has refused to rule out a Bannan exit in January

Henrik Pedersen didn’t mean to unsettle anyone.

But in refusing to guarantee that Barry Bannan will still be a Sheffield Wednesday player when the January window closes, the Owls’ head coach opened the door to something that has felt unthinkable for a long time.

Wednesday without their captain no longer feels hypothetical.

For nearly a decade, Bannan has existed beyond speculation. Managers have come and gone, ownership has shifted, the club has lurched between divisions, yet his place has remained fixed.

Now, for the first time, his future feels genuinely unresolved - and the consequences of losing him would reach far beyond the balance of the midfield.

Barry Bannan transfer interest exposes Sheffield Wednesday’s fragile January reality

Interest in Barry Bannan is neither surprising nor new. Championship clubs such as Millwall, Preston North End and Stoke City, alongside suitors in Scotland, see a player still capable of controlling games in difficult conditions.

At 36, he remains technically precise, tactically reliable and unusually durable. In a struggling team, he has continued to function as its organising principle.

What complicates matters is context. Bannan signed a new deal in August, accepting a substantial wage reduction as Wednesday attempted to steady themselves amid financial restrictions and the final months of Dejphon Chansiri’s ownership.

At that point, his decision carried institutional importance. Other players followed his lead, and a dressing room that could have fractured held together.

Little since has improved. Wednesday are operating under administration, still awaiting a takeover, and anchored to the bottom of the Championship following an 18-point deduction.

January has arrived not as a corrective window but as a survival mechanism, with administrators tasked with balancing damage to footballing pride and morale against immediate financial necessity.

Henrik Pedersen’s comments reflected that reality. Asked whether he was confident his captain would still be at Hillsborough when the window closes, he offered admiration without assurance.

“I don’t know what happens in the future,” he told The Sheffield Star.

“I can just say that Barry means a lot for me and he means a lot for everyone. I hope he will stay of course.”

It was an honest answer, but also a revealing one. Managers typically protect key players with certainty, even when that certainty is fragile. That Pedersen could not - speaking instead of hope and respect - underlined how little control exists at present.

“Barry has been amazing for us,” he added. “I will always have the biggest respect for Barry, it doesn’t matter what he is doing.”

On the pitch, Bannan has continued to perform a role that extends beyond numbers. His goals and assists matter, but so does his ability to impose order on games Wednesday are often losing.

When possession sticks, when tempo slows, when panic briefly recedes, it is usually because he has demanded responsibility.

Barry Bannan’s departure would be a structural loss for Sheffield Wednesday, not a sentimental one

The danger for Sheffield Wednesday is losing the last figure around whom coherence still exists. There is no like-for-like replacement in the squad, nor the capacity to recruit one. Under current restrictions, any attempt to compensate would be partial at absolute best.

Clubs in crisis rely heavily on continuity - not as nostalgia, but as infrastructure. Bannan has provided that continuity through relegations, promotions, financial turmoil and managerial churn.

His presence has offered a point of reference for teammates and supporters alike - a sense that something within the club remained stable even as the wider framework deteriorated, and deteriorated again.

None of this implies obligation. If Bannan decides to leave, few would argue against his right to do so.

He has already chosen loyalty over logic once this season, turning down stronger offers in order to remain at Hillsborough. Football careers are finite, and ambition does not expire with age.

At 36, he is understood to still hold aspirations of earning a place in Scotland’s World Cup squad - ambitions that may be better served by stronger results, cleaner data and performances delivered in a more functional environment.

But from Wednesday’s perspective, his exit would underline how far the club has slipped from being able to protect its core assets.

Relegation can be contextualised, administration can be explained, but losing a captain who actively chose to stay when circumstances were bleak sends a starker message: that the environment has become impossible to sustain.

Pedersen says he hopes Bannan remains. Hope, though, is passive. And Sheffield Wednesday’s problem is no longer one of intent, but of capacity.

If January ends without Barry Bannan at Hillsborough, the sense of loss will be immediate, but the deeper damage will be structural.