Portsmouth snubbed after submitting Sheffield Wednesday transfer approach | OneFootball

The January transfer window is turning into a disaster for Sheffield Wednesday, but one bid for one of their remaining players has fallen flat.

Crisis club Sheffield Wednesday are finding that the January transfer window is hurting their club, but a bid for one of their players has fallen flat.

With relegation all but already sealed, for crisis club Sheffield Wednesday the main aim is to just get through to the end of the 2025-26 season without incurring a further 15-point deduction for the start of their inevitable League One campaign next season.

There has already been much talk of the need to raise operating capital to keep the club functioning as a going concern, and this leaves an already threadbare squad at risk of losing all of their most talented players.

But one bid to snatch one of their more popular players does at least seem to have fallen flat, with reports that a Championship rival has failed in a bid to take yet another player from the financially-stricken Hillsborough club.

Portsmouth bid for Svante Ingelsson reported to have failed

The Sheffield Star's Alex Miller reported on the evening of Janaury 23 that a Portsmouth bid to lure the Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Svante Ingelsson to Fratton Park has failed.

It was reported that whilst a bid came in from Pompey for the Swedish midfielder, Sheffield Wednesday's administrators decided to reject the offer. The player's contract expires this summer, although Sheffield Wednesday have the option to extend it by a further year, meaning he is effectively contracted with them until the summer of 2027, should that option be allowed to be triggered.

Portsmouth are in dire need of reinforcements themselves. They are in an extremely precarious position near the Championship relegation places, separated only from the bottom three by goal difference as the weekend fixtures commence.

And, having had issues in their midfield all season, Ingelsson could have been an ideal player for a club who do not have one of the highest budgets in the division, but they may now have to look elsewhere for further reinforcements.

Sheffield Wednesday administrators have to raise money, but not every offer will be accepted

Sheffield Wednesday need operating capital in order to be able to see their way through to the end of the season. And since the sale of the club to a consortium fronted by the former professional gambler James Bord has not yet been ratified by the EFL, the club's administrators need to continue to raise money in order to keep the club alive as a going concern until that has all been tied up.

The January transfer window was always likely to be a difficult time for the club. Loanees Ethan Horvath and Harry Amass left the club earlier in the month, while it seems likely that talented 17-year-old Yisa Alao will be leaving the club imminently, with Chelsea and Manchester United fighting for his signature - the Blues are understood to be in pole position.

The biggest blow seems likely to come with reports of the imminent departure of captain Barry Bannan, with Millwall the most likely destination, although reports on Saturday morning have cast at least a tiny degree of doubt on that going ahead.

The departure of Ingelsson would be another huge blow for the club. He signed from Hansa Rostock in 2024 and has made 65 appearances for them in all competitions since then.

But while there has been an element of bones being picked clean with regard to Sheffield Wednesday in this transfer window, the administrators are not required to accept any offer for any player.

It's true to say that they have a legal obligation to look after the best interests of the club's creditors, they also have an obligation to maintain the club as a going concern, and they cannot do this if Sheffield Wednesday simply have no players left to play for them by the end of January because they've all been sold off to rival clubs.

The amount of the Portsmouth bid for Ingelsson is not known, but the reports of him staying clearly indicate that the administrators clearly felt that the club's best interests were served by rejecting this offer.