Sheffield Wednesday chief plays down 2027 concern after David Storch rebuild | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday's sporting director, Simon Wilson, insists there's some breathing space regarding contract negotiations

Sheffield Wednesday sporting director Simon Wilson believes that contractual discussions will continue throughout the coming months, with the club not needing to hurry in tying down players until the new year.

There was a big rebuild at Hillsborough over the summer under the new Arise ownership. David Storch and co went to work immediately on bringing in new people at board level and building a squad that could be competitive in League One this season.

Within that, though, came a lot of one-year deals for senior members of the side, while some younger players who have been with the club prior to this summer are seeing their contracts enter their final year, too.

Sheffield Wednesday are on track in their plans, according to Simon Wilson

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Including loanees, the Owls have a staggering 21 players who, as it stands, won't be with them next season. That needs to be addressed, and Simon Wilson has insisted some "live conversations" are starting to be had.

Indeed, the focus over the past month or so has been refining and adjusting certain contracts, namely head coach Henrik Pedersen's, to reflect their importance to the club.

The contracts Pedersen and co were under were handed to them by unpopular former owner Dejphon Chansiri, and would have included wage cuts regarding relegation, too.

Speaking to the Sheffield Star, Wednesday sporting director Simon Wilson hinted that the majority of those adjustments have been completed, and work is now being done to extend the relevant contracts of those they want to keep at Hillsborough in the future.

Importantly, he stressed that there's no real hurry to get everyone tied down, stating that there's "breathing room" between now and the end of January.

"I think we've done the majority of that [contract discussions] now," he said. There are a couple of live conversations that we're having with members of the current team around that.

"I think we've got a bit of breathing space with some of that type of stuff now, certainly until the other side of January."

The key players currently set to be out of contract, who Sheffield Wednesday may want to extend

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Ultimately, the main focus right now will be on how the team performs over the coming months. With the number of players expected to be targeted next season being a little less than 18, you'd imagine some of the more veteran players may be allowed to move on in favour of more quality.

The likes of Liam Cooper, Reece James and Jamal Lowe, for example, could be seen as replaceable, but good performances could see those contract conversations begin to spark between now and the new year.

However, players such as Earnie Weaver, who is highly regarded as one of the club's brightest youth prospects, and Yan Valery, a Tunisian international entering his traditional 'prime years', are two names whose situations the Star suggests could be looked at.

Other players, such as club legends Barry Bannan and Liam Palmer, alongside youngsters Sean Fusire, Di'Shon Bernard and Gabriel Otegbayo, are also out of contract this summer.

Sheffield Wednesday don't need to rush to tie down their players just yet

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No players are getting poached by other clubs in the EFL anytime soon, given the transfer window just closed a couple of weeks ago.

For the most part as well, there won't be many January bids coming in for many of Wednesday's players who are out of contract, as the majority of them are over the age of 30 and won't traditionally command a fee.

So, as Wilson alluded to, there's a bit of time for the higher-ups at Wednesday to play with, regarding contract extensions. For the majority of those out of contract, it won't be until the early months of 2027 that people may start getting concerned about how their imminent future isn't being dealt with.

In the meantime, conversations will be taking place as the season goes on, and come January, the decision-makers at Hillsborough will have a better idea of how they want the squad to look this time next year.

For what has been an incredibly hectic, high-intensity summer regarding new ideas and change being made, this is an uncharacteristically calm situation in South Yorkshire at the moment.