Sheffield Wednesday have been busy in the summer transfer market.
The Owls have added a total of 13 players (including six loans) to the roster in an attempt to immediately secure promotion back to the Championship.
The most recent new face through the door is Sylla Sow, a forward from the Netherlands that signed a permanent deal with the club after spending the previous two seasons at RKC Waalwijk of the Eredivisie in his home country.
With last season’s top-scorer Josh Windass side-lined with a long-term injury, the emphasis will be on the other players to step up. Here are a few to keep an eye on on Saturday:
Barry Bannan
The Scottish international signed his first contract with Sheffield Wednesday back in August 2015. He joined Aston Villa academy as a youth player, making his professional debut for the midlands club in 2008.
Later in his career, Bannan would play for Premier League side Crystal Palace, also serving stints on loan with the likes of Derby, Blackpool and Leeds United. In all, he has featured in more than 250 games for the Owls since his arrival. In February 2021, Bannan extended his contract with the club through to 2023. Following the 2020/21 season, Brennan was voted as the swfc.co.uk Player of the Year.
Jaden Brown
Jaden Brown signed his professional contract with Sheffield Wednesday on July 14, 2021 having come through the ranks at Huddersfield Town.
In all, Brown featured 31 times for Huddersfield, making 28 appearances for the club in the Championship across the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons. While his natural position is left-back, Brown is said to be able to transition further up the pitch as a winger with his speed and pace often a problem for opposing defenders. In the first two games of the 2021/22 campaign, Owls manager Darren Moore has used the former Tottenham Hotspur youth academy product as a forward in his 4-3-3 formation.
Lee Gregory
With the recent injury to forward Callum Paterson, reports have linked Lee Gregory with a potential start for the Owls as a temporary replacement for the Scotsman. One of the Owls’ 13 summer signings, Gregory inked his contract at S6 on August 5, 2021, manufacturing a permanent deal from parent club Stoke City. The former Millwall striker (2014-19) was capped over 200 times for the Lions in his senior career. He would go on to score 64 goals in his time with the club, including 18 goals during the team’s triumphant 2016/17 season, where the Lions earned promotion back to the Championship via the League One play-offs. Prior to his stretch with Millwall, the Sheffield-born forward spent just over three seasons with Halifax Town – joining in the spring of 2010 on loan from then-parent club Mansfield Town, where he would go on to feature 139 times and bag 87 goals in all competitions.
Liam Palmer
Although being linked recently with a possible move to Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday supporters look at Liam Palmer as “one of their own”. A childhood supporter of the Owls and born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, Palmer began his youth career with Sheffield Wednesday at the age of seven. In 2013/14, he collected SWFC Player of the Year, SODA, the Wise Old Owls, the Owls Foundation and The Star SWFC Player of the Year accolades. After signing his first contract with the club in January 2010, the Scotland international has earned more than 260 caps for the Owls during his time in S6. Serving as a right-back, Palmer is the current longest-serving member of the club. Internationally, he was eligible for both England and Scotland, before ultimately choosing the latter. He would make his senior debut for Scotland during a Euro 2020 qualifier against Kazakhstan in March 2019.
