Ross Wallace sends Sheffield Wednesday reunion message to Fernando Forestieri | OneFootball

The duo were firm favourites during their respective spells at Hillsborough

Sheffield Wednesday are just a matter of weeks away from kickstarting their latest era in League One under the ownership of David Storch, and excitement is certainly building around Hillsborough at this moment in time.

The aforementioned American investor and his consortium, Arise Capital Partners, were able to acquire the club in the final week of the 2025/26 Championship season after months of uncertainty on the takeover front, with former chairman, Dejphon Chansiri, unwilling to invest further in the club before putting Wednesday into the hands of their previous joint-administrators.

This meant the Owls suffered the EFL's earliest-ever relegation in a season, largely due to the deduction of 18 points and an extremely threadbare squad at the disposal of head coach, Henrik Pedersen.

However, since Storch's takeover was completed on May 1st, plenty of changes, both on and off the pitch, have been in order at Hillsborough.

Indeed, the likes of David Bruce and Simon Wilson, formerly the sporting director of League One rivals, Stockport County, have been added to the hierarchy, while Pedersen has already added multiple new faces to his squad.

However, one will stand out from the rest for some time, with Barry Bannan securing a reunion with the S6 club, just six months after initially departing for Millwall, where he played just 16 times.

The 36-year-old, of course, had seen it all in his 477 prior appearances for the Owls, which included being a part of Carlos Carvalhal's sides in 2015/16 and 2016/17 which suffered Championship play-off heartbreak at the hands of Hull City and Huddersfield Town respectively.

However, he wasn't the only cult hero to emerge from that era, with the duo of Ross Wallace and Fernando Forestieri still remembered with great fondness, and the former has now sent a heartfelt message to his ex-teammate.

Ross Wallace urges Fernando Forestieri to make sentimental return to Sheffield Wednesday

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Indeed, all of Bannan, Wallace and Forestieri were signed in the same transfer window, just weeks after the aforementioned Carvalhal became Wednesday's first ever overseas manager in the summer of 2015.

All three were household names in the Championship and beyond at that particular moment too, with Forestieri previously developing a strong reputation for his goalscoring prowess at Watford, who sanctioned his move to South Yorkshire for a reported £3m.

During his first campaign in S6, where Wednesday lost out in the play-off final to Hull, Forestieri developed a strong partnership with Gary Hooper, netting 15 goals in all competitions, before scoring a further 12 the season afterwards.

The goals didn't exactly flow for the Argentinian-born striker in the three campaigns which followed, although his strike against Norwich City at Carrow Road in April 2019 is still viewed as one of the Championship's most memorable strikes in recent memory.

He was most recently employed by Cypriot side, AEL Limassol, where he scored just twice in 26 appearances. However, Wallace, on his Instagram story, shared a post by Forestieri, with the Scot writing: "Time to go home," followed by an Owl emoji, making his feelings abundantly clear, as the striker is currently part of a PFA training camp designated for free agents.

Sheffield Wednesday should look to the future with new signings despite Barry Bannan reunion

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Although Wallace could have been reacting in a tongue-in-cheek manner after Bannan's own return to the Steel City, Wednesday have already been linked with a glut of potential attacking reinforcements, and should look at various options instead of considering sentimental signings.

Whilst a return for Forestieri would continue to get the fans back onside in an emotional sense, the striker's recent goalscoring record isn't one which jumps off the page, and it is also clear that, in this department, Pedersen is looking at younger options, having recently signed Louie Barry and Harry Gray from Aston Villa and Leeds United on a permanent and loan basis respectively.