Sheffield Wednesday dealt big Josh Windass blow as Coventry City and Hull City lurk | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday's Josh Windass has reportedly rejected a final contract offer from the club, as Hull City and Coventry City wait in the wings to potentially snap him up.

Windass is now set to become a free agent, according to Football Insider, who previously reported that the Tigers and the Sky Blues held an interest in the Hull-born player.

He was said to be getting closer to signing a new deal towards the start of the month, as per the Sheffield Star. They did add that there were some details to be sorted out before anything would be official, but the signs looked to be pointing in a positive direction.

Losing Windass would make Danny Röhl's job of constructing a team that can continue to progress up the Championship table even harder. He only scored six times in 25 league matches, but some of those were some very important goals towards the back-end of the season when Wednesday were fighting for their lives.

Not only was he key in keeping them up, Windass was the man that sent them up with his last-minute header in the League One play-off final in 2023.

Football Insider believe that Hull and Coventry will make approaches to the player in the coming weeks, following his rejection of a new deal with the Owls.

Interest in Josh Windass

The clubs that could be lining up to pounce on this latest news should be much longer than just the two reported Championship vyers.

Birmingham City had attempted to convince the 30-year-old to come and join their project in League One, following their relegation to the third tier, as per the Star. The ex-promotion winner would have hugely boosted their chances of returning to the Championship at the first time of asking.

Teams from across the pond in the MLS were also said to be interested in the former Rangers forward back in January. They could look to now snap him up when he becomes a free agent.

Josh Windass leaving could be a blessing and a curse for Wednesday

Usually, any time that any club loses a player who produced one moment of magic that brought them so much joy it's a sad time. The club had some annoying and frustrating years down in League One and he was the one that managed to get them over the top and back into the second tier.

His contributions in their first season back were arguably just as vital as that effort in front of the Wednesday fans last May.

But there could be some upside to him going. His injury issues have plagued him for most of his time with the club, and it might be best for him to start again somewhere new and see if his luck changes.

He could also be considered to be part of the 'old' generation of this team. Not by age, necessarily, but he was part of that team that struggled to get promoted from League One.

The dawn of a new day has already happened at Hillsborough, and their German messiah is proceeding over events, with every disciple of the Owl worshiping his every move.

They have to fully lean into this vibrant young manager that they have and Windass going, although he was someone that they obviously wanted to keep, could be a step towards ushering in a new generation at Wednesday under Röhl.