Sheffield Wednesday news: Barry Bannan deal, Hillsborough North Stand issue, defender wants exit | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday's disastrous summer continues.

Sheffield Wednesday's summer keeps going from bad to worse.

The Owls keep lurching from crisis to crisis.

With a transfer embargo in place, millions of pounds owed to other clubs and continuing issues with paying everyone's wages on time, the end of last season, when they finished in 12th place in the Championship, already feels like a very long time ago indeed.

Last season's two top goalscorers, Josh Windass and Michael Smith, have already left the club, while there are concerns that the over-inflated valuation put on the club by owner Dejphon Chansiri will deter serious buyers from even entertaining the idea of making a bid for the club.

Here's a round-up of the latest news from the troubled club.

Player and staff wages went unpaid again at the end of July

It was reported last week that Sheffield Wednesday players had been informed that they would not be getting paid on time for the end of July. It's the second successive month that this has happened, and it came despite the club having front-loaded the sale of Caelen-Kole Cadamarteri so that they'd be receiving £1 million of the £1.5 million from Manchester City for the player, as well as the sales of Djeidji Gassama and Anthony Musaba.

This led to what can ultimately be described as strike action by the players. Sheffield Wednesday had been due to play a behind-closed-doors friendly at Burnley on Saturday, but this was cancelled after the players refused to travel to play in the match.

Max Lowe is the latest player to hand in his notice at Sheffield Wednesday

According to the BBC, the latest player to have handed in their notice at Hillsborough as a result of wages going unpaid is left-back Max Lowe. Under FIFA regulations, players that are paid late for two months in a row or more are permitted to give in 15 days' notice and leave. Unless Wednesday pay him up to date, he will be free to leave Hillsborough.

Lowe, who joined Wednesday from Sheffield United in 2024, is an accomplished defender whose potential availability will have already been noted by Championship rivals. His would be another huge loss to the club, with new manager Henrik Pedersen running out of options ahead of their season-opener at Leicester City on the 10th August.

Barry Bannan is staying at Hillsborough for the 2025-26 season

Sheffield Wednesday fans have had enough bad news over the course of the summer, but there was at least one piece of good news for them in the confirmation that 35-year-old captain Barry Bannan has opted to stay with them and sign a contract extension for the 2025-26 season. There had been considerable conjecture that Bannan's failure to sign a new contract with the club meant that his departure from Hillsborough was imminent, although he continued to train with Wednesday following his contract expiry.

But Bannan has instead decided to stay and fight with Wednesday, even though he had options to go elsewhere, and the captain had posted a not-particularly-cryptic message for fans ahead of the confirmation. He also said afterwards that he couldn't leave out of loyalty to the club's other staff. At this stage, though, the question of who might be lining up alongside the captain at Leicester on Sunday afternoon remains as open as ever.

Hillsborough North Stand almost certainly to be closed for start of the season

Wednesday's ticketing arrangements for the new season have been thrown into disarray by the news that a prohibition notice has now been put into place over the North Stand at Hillsborough after the club was unable to make assurances over the structural integrity of the stand as result of extensive corrosion being found in its roof.

The North Stand seats 9,255 people, including many of the club's season ticket holders. In the event that their opening home match against Stoke City on the 16th August goes ahead, the FAQ section for season ticket holders on the club website confirms that supporters can be moved to other parts of the ground if required, but with the closure of the stand substantially reducing the stadium capacity, there may now be questions concerning whether the club will be able to accommodate all fans.