SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND - JANUARY 01: Djeidi Gassama of Sheffield Wednesday celebrates after scoring their sides second goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield Wednesday and Hull City at Hillsborough on January 01, 2024 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Ben Roberts Photo/Getty Images)
For a number of years now the Owls have approached the final months of the season not really knowing which division they were going to be in when the following season got underway – whether that be because of possible relegation or promotion.
This time around, with eight games left to play, Wednesday look likely to be a Championship club in 2025/26, giving them a chance to be proactive when it comes to the players that they do/don’t want to offer new deals to, including somebody like Djeidi Gassama who – despite not being out of contract this summer – is probably deserving of an improved contract.
Speaking on this week’s edition of All Wednesday, we spoke to Owls writer, Alex Miller, about the set of circumstances surrounding the talented Owls attacker, and what he thinks ‘stands out’ about the state of play.
Wednesday are in a different situation this year
“The situation is an interesting one,” he said. “I asked the question of Danny leading into the derby, and the fact that Djeidi Gassama is not currently in contract talks is not a great shock to me in that – I think Barry (Bannan) said himself – Wednesday tend to deal with their contract talks at the end of the season.
“It feels different this year compared to previous years because a lot of the reasoning behind that is that they didn’t know which division they were going to be in – that’s not the case this year. So you’d think there might be a logic to getting a jump on it and entering into contract negotiations with some of the players that they want to offer fresh terms to.
“The bigger thing for me was Danny’s talk about it being up to the club or chairman about the way he wants to go – do you sell and reinvest as we’ve seen other clubs do, or do you keep them for as long as possible and they leave at the end of their contracts? What stands out to me is that that plan is not in place either way.”
