Sheffield Wednesday will hope they've unearthed a new wonderkid - Barry Bannan is a fan of him | OneFootball

Yisa Alao impressed for the Owls in a recent Carabao Cup outing against Grimsby Town

Young Sheffield Wednesday prospect Yisa Alao has been praised by club captain Barry Bannan following a recent Carabao Cup appearance.

The 16-year-old came off the bench in the first half, replacing Reece Johnson, and impressed with his contributions at left wing-back, despite the Owls’ ultimate loss to Grimsby Town.

So promising was his showing that club captain Barry Bannan took to Instagram to sing his praises, nodding to the fact Wednesday have a potential star rising through the ranks.

With Wednesday’s off-field issues and difficult start to the campaign on the field, the youngster could be exactly the feel-good story needed at Hillsborough Stadium at the moment.

Yisa Alao performed well in his Sheffield Wednesday appearance

Little can be expected when a player as young as Alao makes his first appearance, with obvious challenges to overcome when stepping into senior football at such a young age, not least the increased physicality to be found at that level.

But the youngster took the task in his stride, putting in a solid effort out wide both in attacking and defensive areas without looking out of place, despite ultimately falling to defeat with the Owls.

A product of the Wednesday academy, Alao has been with the club since the under-7s age bracket, having made his senior debut earlier in this competition against Bolton Wanderers.

There will be obvious care exercised in handling Alao – who is so young he had to play without a sponsor on his shirt, as Wednesday’s front-of-shirt partner is gambling firm Mr Vegas – but the early signs are good.

Barry Bannan is a big fan of Yisa Alao

Wednesday captain Bannan started on the bench with Alao, so got a good look at the wing-back’s work before being brought on himself in the second half.

He was impressed, posted the youngster on his Instagram story after the game with the caption: “Well done yisa he’s coming 🤝”

It was a sentiment echoed by manager Henrik Pedersen after the final whistle.

“As soon as he came on, they tried to bring extra people to his side,” he was quoted as saying in The Star. “But he grew through the battle and wow. One of the important skills you need to have as a young player is to adapt; to adapt to the level, to new players and to everything. It was really, really good.

“He is a great young player. Wow. We have to be very careful with him. Just to have a normal training week at a Championship level is very tough for him.”

Yisa Alao is exactly the sort of story Sheffield Wednesday need

One promising young player will not detract from Wednesday’s serious off-field issues, nor should it, but bringing through top talent like Alao is going to be vital for the Owls if they are to survive this turbulent time.

The club are currently unable to pay a fee for any transfers or loans until after the January 2027 window, leaving a long time until the club can invest properly in new players, even if they manage to get owner Dejphon Chansiri away from the club.

If the Owls can bring through talent like Alao, it not only gives the player faster exposure to senior football than they might have got elsewhere, it also gives Wednesday a free solution to their transfer market exclusion.