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FLW's Owls fan pundit has weighed in on a rumoured Odin Bailey transfer

Sheffield Wednesday’s rebuild is still in its infancy, but the scale of the task facing Henrik Pedersen and the club’s new hierarchy means pragmatism may have to take priority over glamour in the transfer market.

Relegation from the Championship, financial turmoil and a points deduction that ultimately condemned the Owls to finishing bottom of the table have left significant holes throughout the squad.

New ownership under David Storch and Arise Capital has brought optimism, but there is little disguising the reality that Wednesday require depth, experience and reliability across multiple positions before their League One return.

Midfield appears one of the most pressing areas for attention. Senior departures and a threadbare squad have left Pedersen short of options centrally, making links to outgoing Stockport County midfielder Odin Bailey understandable.

The 26-year-old enters the market after helping Stockport reach the League One play-off final, registering four goals and three assists across 43 league appearances last season.

After years spent trying to establish himself following his Birmingham City breakthrough, Bailey’s last two campaigns at Edgeley Park have arguably represented the strongest period of his career.

Sheffield Wednesday expert split on potential Odin Bailey transfer move

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In light of the rumours linking Bailey to Hillsborough, Football League World asked in-house Owls fan pundit Patrick McKenna if he’s like to see a deal for the midfielder go through. Patrick would be open to the arrival of Bailey, who is also of interest to League One rivals Lincoln City, but believes that the talented playmaker's addition would represent more of a necessity to aid the Owls' much-needed squad rebuilding efforts than anything else.

“Sheffield Wednesday definitely need numbers in our midfield,” McKenna told FLW.

“We’re very light there - obviously across the board, we are light but we need to get something built in the middle of the park and we're looking at Odin Bailey,

“Suppose if it's a free transfer, there might be something in it, but he does seem to be someone whose career did struggle to get going for a while,

“He was at Birmingham City for a number of years and he could never get game time in the Championship, but you know past that - two seasons at Stockport, he's been able to kick on a bit,

“So you could maybe on a free transfer, bring him in as a squad player and see how it goes.

“I don't think there's a lot of risk in this sort of signing but it's not a particularly standout one,

“However, it's a case of building a squad for the season and 26 is a decent age.

“It's not someone coming towards the end of their career, and it's not someone very young who would need a lot of guidance, so yeah, see how it goes, I suppose.”

Odin Bailey fits Sheffield Wednesday’s current reality more than their long-term ambition

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There is a temptation when clubs of Wednesday’s size drop into League One to focus solely on statement signings, but the immediate challenge facing Henrik Pedersen is constructing a functional squad capable of surviving a transition.

Bailey looks more like a practical addition than a transformative one.

His profile is attractive for several reasons. He arrives without a transfer fee, has accumulated more than 100 appearances for one of League One’s strongest sides over the last two seasons and, perhaps most importantly, has shown durability.

Bailey played 57 times in all competitions last season - availability alone may become a key recruitment metric for a club that frequently looked stretched physically and numerically.

His best work comes when given licence to attack. Bailey is not a controlling midfielder or a defensive presence, but his ability to carry the ball between lines, arrive late into dangerous areas and contribute goals from midfield would address an issue Wednesday consistently struggled with last season.

The bigger question is his ceiling. At 26, Bailey is entering his prime years rather than developing towards them. He may not be the player to define Wednesday’s rebuild, but rebuilds are rarely defined by one man alone.