Millwall FC backed for Sheffield Wednesday transfer deal - Owls star may 'be a missing piece of the puzzle' | OneFootball

FLW's Millwall Fan Pundit believes that a move for Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan is a good one.

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...

Millwall have put themselves in an excellent position to seek promotion to the Premier League in the second-half of the season, under the management of Alex Neil.

The Lions, who narrowly missed out on the top six and the play-off places on the final day of last season, sit tucked inside the top five this time around and just six points behind the top two and the automatic promotion spots.

Their most recent outing saw them hammer south London rivals Charlton Athletic by four goals to nil at The Den, meaning that they have now suffered just one defeat in their last seven matches in the Championship.

It could well be that just one or two brilliant pieces of business in the January transfer window does propel them into England’s top-flight and it looks as though they are closing in on a potentially very impressive signing.

Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan has been a stalwart for the Owls for over a decade now but it now looks as though the 36-year-old midfielder is set to move south to Bermondsey.

Barry Bannan deemed a good signing for Millwall

Having joined Sheffield Wednesday in the summer of 2015, Barry Bannan has gone on to make well over 450 appearances for the Owls but his time at Hillsborough now appears to be coming to an end.

The former Aston Villa and Crystal Palace man looks set to move to Millwall and FLW’s Millwall Fan Pundit Lucas Ball believes that he would be a ‘really good signing’ for the promotion hopefuls.

“I think it’s a really good signing and it looks like it’s going to happen now. The medical is apparently scheduled for tomorrow (Monday).

“In the summer, I didn’t know whether he was the right type of midfielder for us but I think he’s shown again this season that in a, let’s be frank, poor Wednesday side with the issues they’ve got going on off the pitch, he’s class yet again.

“He’s third in the Championship for chances created. When they came to our place a couple of months ago, he had a really good game as he so often has against us over the years.

“He’s obviously just a really good player at this level and could potentially be a missing piece of the puzzle that we haven’t had in recent years to get us over the line.

“We’ve had a lot of injuries in the midfield as well. Casper de Norre is just building himself back to fitness, Billy Mitchell has been back for the last few weeks and is playing really well. Those two are a really good duo in there.

“But, (Massimo) Luongo is out for the season and was obviously signed as the more experienced head. Will Smallbone is out and still a way off returning I think. Dan Kelly also sounds to be a little way off and Alfie Massey from the U21s will probably head back out on loan if he is fit.

“So, it is obviously a position that we needed to reinforce in and it feels like a bit of a no-brainer deal. He’s shown that he can still compete at this level certainly and there’s obviously a part of it him that doesn’t want to leave Wednesday, and it is a shame that his career there is having to come to an end in this way.

“Their fans will obviously appreciate that he has been a brilliant servant for them over the years and I’m sure will generally wish him the best of luck, given the situations he has turned down to stay a Wednesday player over the years.

“Fingers crossed it gets over the line and we’ll see. It could be a really good bit of business, I think.”

Barry Bannan would provide Millwall with extra quality in midfield

Alex Neil has performed some excellent jobs in his career thus far and he is in the middle of yet another with his Millwall side again punching above their weight.

Hard working and industrious as ever, Millwall often out work teams with the added quality of the likes of Femi Azeez and Mihailo Ivanovic in the final third.

The middle of the park, as Lucas explains, perhaps does lack depth and also a bit of technical quality that Bannan could bring in abundance to the capital city.

Bringing the experience that he does to a team that needs a bit of nous in the run-in will also be pivotal, especially with Luongo still unavailable due to injury.

Should Bannan indeed complete his mov early on this week then the Airdrie-born former Bolton Wanderers loanee could make his Millwall debut at The Den against the Owls’ Steel City rivals Sheffield United next weekend.