Exclusive: How Don Goodman feels about West Brom signing Sheffield Wednesday's Barry Bannan | OneFootball

The 35-year-old is out of contract at the end of June.

Barry Bannan has interest from Championship clubs as his Sheffield Wednesday future remains unsolved, one of them being West Bromwich Albion.

It was reported earlier this week that the Scottish captain of the Owls had caught the eyes of three clubs in the second tier: Stoke City, Wrexham and West Brom, as per Fraser Fletcher.

Bannan, 35, has been offered a new contract by the Owls, who he has played for over the past 10 seasons.

Despite showing up for the first day of their pre-season training, and reports that he is keen to stick around, the central midfielder is yet to officially agree to the terms that have been offered to him, leaving the door open to other interested parties to come in and seal a deal.

West Brom urged to pursue Barry Bannan interest

Ryan Mason's Baggies could do with a player like Bannan, according to Don Goodman.

The former Albion striker turned Sky Sports pundit exclusively told Football League World that the Scot should certainly be a player that they go after this summer.

"It is widely acknowledged that Barry Bannan's preference would be for everything at Sheffield Wednesday to be sorted out and for him to continue there," said Goodman.

"But there are an awful lot of issues at Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, from not knowing who the manager's going to be, to transfer embargoes, to ownership trying to sell the club, but maybe not going about it in a very successful way.

"Everything's up in the air there. So that may mean that Barry Bannan might have to move on. And if he does, then West Brom, I think he would be a massive benefit [to them].

"Not only is he a quality player at Championship level, and I know he's 35, but the way he plays the game means that that's not really an issue at this moment.

"But his leadership qualities, his range of passing are everything that would be of benefit to a team like West Brom."

West Brom face tough battle to sign Barry Bannan

West Brom's chairman, Shilen Patel, has already stated that the club are going to have to be careful with their spending, making the free agent avenue the more likely one for Albion to go down this summer, although clubs are allowed to sign out-of-contract players outside of transfer windows.

They will be fighting an uphill battle to get the Wednesday stalwart to leave Hillsborough given his preference to remain in South Yorkshire. Plus, their ability to sign players may hinge on some of their own top talents departing in order to free up some cash, as Patel hinted at.

Still, even though it'll be a tough deal to do, there's no harm in them trying to sign Bannan. He had a strong season last time out, contributing a combined nine goals and assists. An experienced head like his will never not be needed in the second tier.