Exclusive: Sheffield Wednesday backed to sign 'very talented' ex-Burnley star | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday are linked with former Burnley winger Nathan Redmond, and Lee Hendrie feels this would be a great move for the Championship club.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie has reacted to rumours that former Nathan Redmond could be heading to Sheffield Wednesday.

It's starting to feel as if a corner is being turned at Sheffield Wednesday. The ailing Championship club have already had it confirmed by their administrators that wages for November and December will be paid on time, and it has also now been confirmed that the club will be able to sign players so long as they're free agents.

Wednesday have been under a strict transfer embargo since the summer, and this has left manager Henrik Pedersen with a seriously depleted squad this season. And the effects of this have been clear. They're well adrift at the bottom of the table as a result of the twelve-point deduction that was automatically applied to them upon being placed into administration, but they would still be a point below Norwich City in 24th place even without this deduction having been applied.

The loosening of the restrictions in place over the club's transfer activity have already been evident. Liam Cooper has now signed for the club, and his experience will add a little solidity to their central defence. Former Sunderland striker Duncan Watmore has also been closely linked to the club.

And there are other players who could soon be arriving at Hillsborough, with the suggestion that former England international Nathan Redmond could also be on his way to the club.

"He's been keeping himself fit" - Lee Hendrie confident that Nathan Redmond could do a job for Sheffield Wednesday

Football League World have spoken exclusively to Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie about this potential move and Lee, who is personally acquainted with Redmond, already knows that the player has been keeping himself in shape in preparation for a return to the game since his release by Burnley last summer: "I think that would be a great signing for Sheffield Wednesday. Nathan comes with experience, very, very talented. I know Nathan well and he's been keeping himself fit."

And Lee believes that Redmond's arrival at Hillsborough would be a terrific bit of business for Sheffield Wednesday, and that the winger could be an important addition to Henrik Pedersen's squad: "I think that would be a great signing for Sheffield Wednesday, it would be a really good coup for them and a good addition to the squad."

Sheffield Wednesday are targeting experience in their quest to save their Championship season

If there's one common theme to the players with whom Sheffield Wednesday have been linked as potential free agent signings, it's been experience.

Liam Cooper made almost 300 appearances for Leeds United in both the Championship and the Premier League between 2014 and 2024, while Duncan Watmore made over 250 appearances in the Premier League, Championship and League One for Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Millwall before being released by Millwall at the end of the 2024-25 season.

The arrival of Nathan Redmond would fit the same profile. Over a senior career that stretches back more than a decade and a half, he ran up more than 450 appearances in the Premier League and Championship for Birmingham City, Norwich City and Southampton, spent a season in Turkey with the Istanbul giants Besiktas, and was even capped once by England, when he came on for them as a substitute in a friendly match against Germany in 2017.

That all three of these players are over 30 years old is likely not a coincidence. Sheffield Wednesday have had to use ten teenage players already this season, in no small part because the transfer restrictions in place meant that players had to be called up from their under-21s and academy in order to flesh their squad out.

This hasn't necessarily been a bad thing. One of their star performers this season has been defender Harry Amass, who arrived at the club on transfer deadline day from Manchester United. There had been some suggestion that he could be recalled in January, but it's now been confirmed that he'll be staying the remainder of this season.

But Sheffield Wednesday have a big gap to make up if they're to stay competitive and give themselves a chance of remaining in the Championship come the end of this season. And the arrival of experienced, out-of-contract players such as Liam Cooper and - if they can make it happen - Nathan Redmond may just give them their best chance of doing so.