Cautious transfer message aimed at Sheffield Wednesday after Barry Bannan claim | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday may be able to make extra additions in the January transfer window

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Sheffield Wednesday were recently placed into administration.

The Owls have suffered a torrid 2025 under the rule of Dejphon Chaniri, whose financial woes saw players go without payment on time for five of the last seven months, which led to key operators such as Josh Windass and Michael Smith exiting the club for free, joining fellow Championship outfits Wrexham and Preston North End, respectively.

Chansiri’s mismanagement of the Steel City side led to them being placed under five different embargoes, limiting their transfer business to loan deals for Ethan Horvath and Harry Amass.

At this moment in time, finding a new owner for Wednesday will be the most critical task at Hillsborough, due to the club’s administrative state. However, there will also still be some minds focussed on the upcoming January transfer window.

Sheffield Wednesday told to plan extensively before exploring free transfer market

When speaking to talkSPORT, Wednesday captain Barry Bannan revealed that the Owls may be able to bring in free transfers and loan signings during the upcoming January transfer window, which would add some much-needed depth to their ranks.

Although survival now looks extremely unlikely for the Steel City side, recruiting some free agents could help them plan for a title charge in League One, which would make any business in January worthwhile.

Football League World’s Sheffield Wednesday fan pundit, Patrick McKenna, was slightly more cautious when debating this topic however, and believes that the club must do their due diligence to make sure they’re bringing in the correct targets.

“It is a bit of a double-edged sword,” stated Patrick. “It is vital that we get new recruits in January because of the depleted nature of our squad. But we have to get it right.

“The free transfer list at the moment is fairly uninspiring. There are a lot of players who are in their mid-30s and played a lot recently through injury, so there are good reasons why they got released by their club.

“There has to be a lot of research done to make sure that they aren't coming to the club well off match fitness because that's really not going to help that much.

“Right now, there's no name jumping out at me, but you know I have faith in our recruitment team that they might be able to find a gem or two to add to the ranks to see us through the season and possibly start building for the season after.”

Sheffield Wednesday supporters would welcome some fresh faces

With relegation to League One pretty much a given at this moment in time, any possible excitement to take from this season may have to be found in alternative ways for Wednesday supporters.

Even if they know that the drop is coming, getting to see some exciting new talent in January would lighten the mood at Hillsborough and potentially start sparking hope for next season.

If the Owls are taken over by a capable operator, they should have enough resources to be fighting at the top of League One immediately.

Planning for that task should therefore start in January, with free agents who could help toward that cause already beginning to be sounded out.