Henrik Pedersen has already made surprise Sheffield Wednesday decision involving Barry Bannan | OneFootball

Barry Bannan is back at Sheffield Wednesday, but he will have a different role to play this time around after a big call by Henrik Pedersen.

It has been a busy summer for Sheffield Wednesday as they begin life under new owner David Storch.

After a nightmare end to former owner Dejphon Chansiri's tenure that saw Wednesday go into administration and suffer relegation from the Championship, a new era is underway at Hillsborough after Storch's Arise Capital Partners consortium completed their takeover of the club.

The Owls have wasted little time getting to work on rebuilding their squad ahead of their return to League One, with nine new signings arriving so far in Joe Lumley, Ricardo Santos, Sil Swinkels, Billy Mitchell, Callum Slattery, Barry Bannan, Jordi Liongola, Louie Barry and Harry Gray.

While the influx of new faces has generated plenty of excitement among the Wednesday fanbase, the club's highest-profile deal of the summer is the return of former captain Bannan, less than six months after he departed for Millwall in January.

Bannan earned club legend status during his first spell with the Owls, scoring 37 goals and providing 75 assists in 477 appearances over a 10-and-a-half year stint in S6, but it seems he may have a different role to play in the upcoming campaign.

Henrik Pedersen reveals big Sheffield Wednesday decision involving Barry Bannan and Liam Palmer

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After being handed the armband by Garry Monk in the summer of 2020, Bannan spent five-and-a-half years captaining Wednesday prior to his January exit.

With Bannan now back at Hillsborough, many had assumed that the Scot would immediately assume the captaincy he left behind, but manager Henrik Pedersen has confirmed that long-serving defender Liam Palmer will continue to lead the team next season after taking over the role earlier this year.

"We made that decision early, that Liam is the club captain and Barry is the vice-captain. When we come a little bit further, I will integrate a third captain," Pedersen told The Star.

"So we will have three captains. And then we will have a leader group of senior players, maybe one young player. As the senior group, this is the way I want to build it up."

While Palmer is another firm favourite among Owls supporters after almost two decades in the first team, Pedersen's decision not to give the captaincy back to Bannan has divided opinion, and it is certainly a brave call by the Dane.

Henrik Pedersen has sent a strong Sheffield Wednesday message with bold Barry Bannan call

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It seems unlikely that Palmer will start every week for Wednesday next season, so Bannan may still find himself wearing the captain's armband fairly regularly.

However, the fact that he has not been given the permanent captaincy has raised plenty of eyebrows, and there could be a number of reasons why Pedersen has opted to stick with Palmer.

While Bannan has admitted that leaving the Owls in January was "tough", Pedersen made it clear at the time of his exit that it was the 36-year-old's decision to make the move to Millwall, rather than the administrators needing to bring in funds from his sale.

Few blamed Bannan for walking away from Hillsborough at the time, particularly given the uncertainty over Wednesday's future while they were in the depths of administration, but having often stated his desire to remain at the club for the rest of his career, some perceived his exit as a lack of loyalty.

In contrast, Palmer remained with the Owls and took on the thankless task of leading the team during the club's bleak Championship relegation season, so Pedersen may be keen to reward the defender by allowing him to continue as captain.

With increased depth in midfield after the arrivals of Mitchell and Slattery — and the likelihood of further additions — it is possible that Pedersen is looking to reduce Wednesday's reliance on Bannan and place greater emphasis on others to step up and drive the team forward.

Bannan did not appear to be weighed down by the armband during his first spell with the Owls, but Pedersen may want to relieve him of the burden of the captaincy and free him up to focus on his performances on the pitch, with many believing he could be one of the best players in League One next season.

While Bannan will still have a crucial role to play at Hillsborough as vice-captain, he will have to adapt to no longer being the main leader in the dressing room, and time will tell whether Pedersen's big call proves to be a masterstroke or a mistake.