How much money Barry Bannan rejected from Middlesbrough and Millwall to stay with Sheffield Wednesday | OneFootball

The Wednesday skipper could be earning a lot more than he currently is with the Owls.

Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan chose to stay with the Owls this summer, despite opportunities with Middlesbrough and Millwall that would have seen him earn up to triple his current wages.

The financial issues that have surrounded Hillsborough throughout this summer have had major knock-on effects across the club. The non-payment of players, coaches and other staff members has led to a two-year transfer restriction on the Owls, prohibiting them from purchasing any players until the summer of 2027.

On top of this, any players that they do sign in the meantime have to be approved by the EFL, even though the embargoes that were placed on the club have been lifted.

Any player that has decided to sign with Wednesday this summer - just Bannan and emergency goalkeeper addition Ethan Horvarth, so far - will be limited to earning up to £7,000 per week, according to The Star.

Barry Bannan's major Middlesbrough and Millwall contract decision revealed

For Bannan, the club's captain and now cemented legend, he decided to stick around and help the Owls in their time of need despite the huge decrease in pay that he would receive by doing so.

One of the former top earners at Hillsborough, the midfielder's deal with the club expired this summer, meaning that his new terms were restricted to the four-figure limit.

He has been a major factor in the glimmer of hope that Wednesday's supporters have been given by their team.

They picked up their first point of the season on Saturday when they came back from 2-0 down against Wrexham, who have reportedly spent £23.65 million now this summer, to get a 2-2 draw.

Wednesday wasn't the only option available to the 35-year-old this summer. Middlesbrough and Millwall were both linked with Bannan earlier in the summer and, according to The Times, they were prepared to pay him triple his current earnings to get him to sign with them.

Based on The Star's report, that would've seen the Owls' skipper net £21,000 per week at either the Riverside Stadium or The Den, but he turned down those opportunities to stay loyal.

Barry Bannan's courageous decision to stay with Sheffield Wednesday will hopefully reap its rewards

The Scot will know that he only has so many years left in the game.

He's not playing like someone that has put in the amount of miles that he has across his career, but there is no questioning that he is certainly in the latter stages of this chapter.

After that, the money he could earn from various opportunities may not be quite as good. Just over £1 million per year, which is what he would have received playing for either Boro or the Lions, is a massive sum for anybody, even professional footballers.

To turn that down in favour of earning around £365,000 per year, which is by no means a poor wage to live off, speaks massively to Bannan's commitment to the club, and should make him even more beloved by supporters, if that is even possible at this point.

And should a takeover ever happen in the future at Wednesday, then you'd hope that Bannan is compensated for his actions by the next chairman of the club by getting a payrise, should he continue to put in performances befitting of a top Championship player - much like he did last weekend against Wrexham.