Southampton FC pushing to sign Sheffield Wednesday midfielder | OneFootball

The Owls' prospect is expected to turn down an offer from his current club.

Sheffield Wednesday are set to lose academy midfielder Sutura Kakay, and Southampton are leading the race to sign him.

It's a time of potential mass exodus at Hillsborough. After some players did not receive their June wages on Monday, meaning that they hadn't been paid for two months in a row, some first-teamers have handed in their notices to the club, giving Wednesday 15 days to pay them what they are owed before they can walk out of the door for nothing.

One of those players has been reported by FLW's sister publication, GiveMeSport, to be last season's top scorer, Josh Windass.

The three players that the Owls offered contracts to after the end of the season - Barry Bannan, Akin Famewo and Callum Paterson - are all officially free agents now, too. The latter will not be returning after he rejected their initial proposal, and no follow-up talks happened in the aftermath, as per The Star.

Southampton leading race for Sheffield Wednesday youngster

Wednesday are set to lose further players to free agency this summer. Academy talent Kakay has turned down the opportunity to sign his first professional deal with the Owls and is now being tracked by a number of clubs, one of them being Southampton, The Star has reported.

Kakay, an 18-year-old midfielder, had the chance to train with the first-team under boss Danny Rohl at times last season. He was one of four youth-team players that were offered pro deals by the club. He is set to be the only one to turn down the Hillsborough natives.

Wednesday will be entitled to training compensation from whichever club signs him next. This will either be decided between the two clubs - the often preferred route - or via a tribunal.

Sheffield Wednesday's mixed feelings on expected Sutura Kakay departure

It is always disappointing for a club to lose a talented youngster like Kakay, but at this time, with the current financial state of the club, it's not necessarily a bad thing for Wednesday to have at least a little bit of income from the teenager's departure.

They are also set to earn £1.5 million from another youngster, Caelan-Kole Cadamarteri, moving on from the club. He is set to join Manchester City.

For Southampton, this is a very smart move. Kakay is clearly well thought of by those at Middlewood Road, hence why he was offered a pro deal by them. A club of their relative standing, compared to Wednesday, needs to be all over deals like this.