New Barry Bannan image emerges as Sheffield Wednesday transfer looms | OneFootball

A new image of Barry Bannan in Sheffield Wednesday training gear has emerged as talks over a return progress

The return of Barry Bannan to Sheffield Wednesday seems to be one of the more inevitable transfers this summer.

The 36-year-old left Hillsborough back in January to sign for Millwall, bringing an end to a ten-and-a-half-year stint that included the highs of reaching a Championship play-off final and the lows of relegation to League One and financial mismanagement from former owner Dejphon Chansiri.

Chansiri's decision to place Sheffield Wednesday into administration ultimately caused enough uncertainty around the Owls that it forced Bannan to depart.

In January, Wednesday were in exclusivity with former professional poker player James Bord, and the Scotsman said that he was worried about the future of the club, leading to his departure.

Following his move to Millwall, that move collapsed, and the club has since been taken over by David Storch and the Arise consortium.

Arise has not shied away from their desire to bring Bannan back, and that feeling is evidently mutual. Talks have been taking place in some capacity since April, and as the off-season has gone on, it's almost been a matter of when, not if, we'll see the fan favourite back in a Wednesday shirt.

Barry Bannan spotted in Sheffield Wednesday training gear in biggest return hint

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Sheffield Wednesday have ramped up their pre-season preparations ahead of their League One return by swapping Middlewood Road for St George's Park.

Henrik Pedersen's side will spend five days at the facility, which ends in a friendly against West Brom this coming Saturday before jetting across Europe for camps in Hungary and Austria.

Several familiar faces have joined up for this leg of pre-season, from those remaining after last season to new signings and even some players who are yet to be announced by the club, including Bannan, it seems.

The 36-year-old has been pictured at St George's Park with the rest of the Wednesday side, wearing Owls training gear.

With it being reported yesterday that a return for the Scotsman was "fairly imminent," it looks like it's truly only a matter of time before Bannan is officially a Sheffield Wednesday player once more.

How Sheffield Wednesday fans have reacted to new Barry Bannan image

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Understandably, the sight of Bannan back with the squad and wearing the new training gear is getting Sheffield Wednesday fans incredibly excited, as even the more pessimistic sections of the fanbase can't argue against a return now.

In response to the image being shared online, plenty of Owls fans have gathered on X to revel in the new image.

"Oh wow, what a sight that is😍😍" one Wednesday fan wrote. "Guess who’s back? Back again. He is home, and I for one am delighted! Welcome back Mr Bannan and family," said another.

Other Owls fans started to joke that their former captain was reported for training already injured, with the image unfortunately capturing him holding his left hamstring.

"Holding the back of the leg, is he injured already?" a fan questioned. "Don't tell me he's done his hamstring already," and "Pulled his hammy already by the looks of it," were also amongst the replies.

Bannan has played fewer than 40 league games in just two of his 10 full seasons at Hillsborough, and started every game in the Championship last year before his move to Millwall.

Ultimately, the likelihood of an injury this early in pre-season is rather slim, but Wednesday fans have learned to live in pessimism recently. The sight of Bannan back at their club in some capacity is invoking positivity that hasn't been seen at Hillsborough in some time.