Henrik Pedersen facing potential Sheffield Wednesday double blow in early 2026 | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday could be without defender Yan Valery and midfielder Sean Fusire for over a month due to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen could be without defender Yan Valery and midfielder Sean Fusire in the early stages of 2026 due to their potential involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Wednesday lost a number of key players during a summer of off-field issues and financial problems, including the likes of Anthony Musaba, Djeidi Gassama, Josh Windass and Michael Smith, and that has left Pedersen with a threadbare squad to work with.

The Owls did bring in two new signings this summer, with goalkeeper Ethan Horvath and defender Harry Amass joining on loan from Cardiff City and Manchester United respectively, but they were blocked from completing further loan deals in the closing stages of the window, and they were hit with two fresh transfer embargoes last week, which effectively ends Pedersen's hopes of bringing in any free agents.

Pedersen has a squad of just 17 senior players at his disposal, and that number has been reduced to 14 after injuries to Pierce Charles, Nathaniel Chalobah and Olaf Kobacki, but thankfully for the Dane, some of Wednesday's academy products have impressively stepped up to the first team this season.

After picking up their first win of the season with a 2-0 win at Portsmouth on Saturday, Pedersen will now be hoping the Owls can kick on and build some momentum, but the prospect of his small squad getting even smaller is looming large ahead of the busy winter period.

Sheffield Wednesday could lose Yan Valery and Sean Fusire to international duty

It was claimed that Valery was attracting interest from clubs in the Championship and across Europe this summer, but despite Wednesday's off-field turmoil, he remained at Hillsborough, and he has been one of his side's standout performers in the early weeks of the season.

However, Valery is a regular for Tunisia at international level, and having played a big role for his country in their successful World Cup qualifying campaign, the 26-year-old looks almost certain to be included in their squad for AFCON.

After spending the second half of last season on loan at Carlisle United as they were relegated from League Two, Fusire has been increasingly involved with the first team squad since his return from Brunton Park, and while he has only made three starts so far this campaign, he has featured in all nine of the Owls' games in all competitions.

Fusire made his senior international debut for Zimbabwe back in June, and although he was not included in the last squad during the September international break, there is every chance he could be called up for AFCON if he continues his development at Hillsborough over the coming months.

With the group stages of the tournament getting underway on 21st December, if they are called up, Valery and Fusire will at least miss Wednesday's games against Ipswich Town, Hull City, Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End, and should their respective countries progress further, they may also be unavailable for the fixtures against Queens Park Rangers, Portsmouth and Birmingham City.

Having lost the likes of Charles, Chalobah and Kobacki to relatively long-term injuries in recent weeks, Pedersen's already thin squad is currently being stretched to its limits, so the last thing the Wednesday chief needs is to lose players to international duty.

Of course, the Owls cannot deny Valery and Fusire the opportunity to represent their countries on the international stage at a prestigious tournament like AFCON, but the timing of their potential absence over the busy winter period could not be worse for Pedersen.

Pedersen will be hoping that a takeover can be completed long in advance of the January transfer window, or at least that owner Dejphon Chansiri can get the current transfer embargoes lifted to enable him to strengthen his squad, otherwise it could be a long winter for Wednesday as their lack of depth continues to take its toll.