'Absolutely heartbreaking' - Fresh reaction given to Barry Bannan, Sheffield Wednesday exit talk | OneFootball

Rumours are linking Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan to a move away from Hillsborough

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…

A mile adrift at the bottom of the Championship and in administration since the end of October, Sheffield Wednesday fans have been through a lot this season. But the biggest blow of all could yet be to come.

Rumours have been circulating for the last few days that club captain Barry Bannan could be leaving the club by the end of the January transfer window, with Millwall considered to be the favourites to land his signature. Bannan has been with Wednesday for a decade, and what he represents is more than just a player to the club's fans.

But with relegation already more or less an inevitability, the temptation to continue to play at the highest level he can will be a severe temptation. Millwall are in the Championship play-off places and fighting for a place in the Premier League.

And such has been the strength of these rumours that the midfielder was given a rapturous reception when substituted in their recent home match against Birmingham City at Hillsborough, it felt a little as though this could have been send-off for a player who has given a lot to this club.

"Would I blame him for moving on? Absolutely not." - Bannan tribute given as Millwall rumours circulate

We spoke to FLW's resident Sheffield Wednesday fan pundit Patrick McKenna about the speculation concerning Bannan's future, and Patrick feels that there is a lot of confusion about the player's future at present: "To sum it up at the minute, there's a lot of confusion and guessing going on about his situation. That certainly seems to even be spreading to Barry himself and Henrik Pedersen. It is obvious that the interest is out there. Clubs are clearly seeing a possible opportunity to swoop in and take him."

And he feels that the speculation is leading the Wednesday fan base to conclusions which haven't been reached yet: "I have no doubt that Barry Bannan is weighing things up in his head and he is considering a move away. But then, at the same time, there's every chance he will stay on, so we don't know. There's a tendency for fans to over-analyse situations and take something from them which doesn't exist. I think the Bannan situation is going to be ongoing and I think at stage it's impossible to predict what's happening next."

Patrick paid tribute to the service that he has given the club: "Would I blame him for moving on? Absolutely not. He's an absolute club legend since the Premier League years, and he has given so much to the club. As well as being an absolutely outstanding player for us, he has stayed through some tough times and has been a shining light through those times, even taking a wage cut just to stay with us."

And our Wednesday fan pundit fully understands why a move away from Hillsborough would be so tempting for the player: "But at the end of the day he is 36. Does he want his final days being a grim relegation this season and a battle in League One next season, or does he want that final chance to play in the Championship? Millwall are battling for promotion."

But ultimately, Patrick concludes that while Bannan leaving Sheffield Wednesday would be a sad moment for Sheffield Wednesday fans, he's earned the right to stay in the Championship, although nothing has been decided yet: "If he wants to go, then go, Barry. You owe us nothing and you certainly deserve a chance at a club like Millwall, but it would be absolutely heartbreaking to see him go. But I would totally understand if he did go, though at this stage there's a lot of speculation and confusion so let's just see what happens."

Barry Bannan has been an incredible servant to Sheffield Wednesday, but him leaving now would be understandable

Over the course of more than a decade, Barry Bannan has become far more than just another footballer to the supporters of Sheffield Wednesday. First signed from Aston Villa in August 2015, he's gone on to make not far short of 500 appearances for the Owls, captaining them to their return to the Championship via the League One play-offs in 2023.

There was some tension last summer, as the full scale of Wednesday's financial problems started to reveal themselves and with him having not signed a new contract for the 2025-26 season.

It was a huge relief to all Wednesday fans when he did pen a new deal for a further year, and even at 36 years of age, he has demonstrated his value to them this season, even earning himself a nomination for the Championship's Player of the Month award for September.

But there are obvious reasons why a move away from the club. A takeover has still not been formalised, while the team's has completely collapsed over the course of the season, with just won League win, which came all the way back in September. This has been so severe that the points deductions that the club has incurred have almost come to feel like an irrelevance.

With access to the players that they desperately need severely restricted by the EFL, even without those deductions they'd still be hopelessly adrift at the bottom of the table on 11 points, 18 short of safety.

At his age, Bannan will be fully aware that the curtain will soon be coming down on his playing career. And it's reasonable to ask why he would want to stay aboard this rapidly sinking ship when there could be an opportunity to finish it off by helping a team who are fighting for a place in the Premier League.

It remains to be seen, whether Bannan is persuaded to leave the club before the transfer window, and while it would be a huge disappointment to Sheffield Wednesday fans if he did choose to leave by the end of January, very few of them could reasonably blame him for doing so, given the team's fortunes over the course of the first half of the 2025-26 season.