"They'll be absolutely gutted" - Exclusive: Sky pundit drops Sheffield Wednesday claim after Gassama exploits | OneFootball

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, pundit Lee Hendrie has spoken about Djeidi Gassama's electric start at Rangers & Sheffield Wednesday.

Lee Hendrie believes that the former Sheffield Wednesday winger Djeidi Gassama has been "on fire" since joining Rangers from troubled Sheffield Wednesday, and that Wednesday will regret letting the winger go.

Gassama left Sheffield Wednesday for Rangers for a £2.2 million transfer fee in July, and he's had a sensational start to life in the Scottish game, with three goals already in their three Champions League qualifiers played so far.

Sheffield Wednesday, meanwhile, continue to lurch from crisis to crisis.

Their Championship season starts at Leicester under a cloud, with the club having a bare-bones squad, and with a very real threat of further players joining the exodus away from the club which started last month with the departures of Josh Windass and Michael Smith.

An EFL statement released this week confirmed that the club's transfer embargo has now been extended by another two windows, to the end of the winter 2027 window, while expressing their concern over the club's condition as the new season gets under way.

Hendrie - "You can't go there and expect it will be an easy ride"

Football League World have spoken exclusively to Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie about whether Sheffield Wednesday will regret letting such a talented young player leave the club: "Yes, I think they will. Gassama has been on fire since he left. He had ability which we've seen on an inconsistent basis, but he's obviously enjoying his life since coming away from a troubled football club."

But Hendrie has a warning for the young player, to not assume that life in the Scottish game will be easy: "The expectation level there is sky-high, you can't go there and think it's going to be an easy ride. He's shown that he's willing and able, and he looks like he's really enjoying himself."

And Hendrie believes that Wednesday will certainly regret the decision to let him leave the club, though he understands why Gassama would want to leave: "I think they'll be absolutely gutted that he's left the club, but you can understand why when the club's in such a bad state that if anyone comes calling, he was always going to do. So fair play to him; he's stepped out, and he's stepped up as well."

Gassama will have enjoyed the start of his new life north of the border

Djeidi Gassama has certainly had an explosive start to his career north of the border. He scored in both legs of their Champions League Second Qualifying Round tie against the Greek side Panathinaikos, which ended in a 3-1 aggregate win, and then added another in the first leg of their Third Qualifying round match against the Czech side Viktoria Plzeň, a match in which the BBC commentator described him as having "the Midas touch in Europe already".

*Average rating based on two legs versus Panathinaikos only

Sheffield Wednesday's position, meanwhile, couldn't be much further removed from the glamour of the Champions League. It remains unclear whether captain Barry Bannan will be able to take his place in their team for their trip to Leicester because of registration issues. Being unable to do so would reduce their already bare-bones squad of 16 senior players down to 15. The contrast couldn't be much more stark.

With one stand at Hillsborough closed for safety reasons, wages still not paid for the end of July, little indication that the club is going to be sold, and the players still having not ruled out strike action, it's not difficult to see why Gassama might be preferring life at Ibrox over continuing his career at Hillsborough at the moment.