Sheffield Wednesday confirmed in their 2019/20 retained list that Paul Jones, Kieran Lee and Atdhe Nuhiu signed contract extensions while Steven Fletcher, Fernando Forestieri and Morgan Fox declined new deals. The trio have left the club and were joined by Sam Hutchinson and Sam Winnall.
Wednesday were successful extending the loan contracts of Alessio Da Cruz, Jacob Murphy, Connor Wickham and Josh Windass, but David Bates has been sent back to Hamburg.
Jones is out of contract this summer and looks likely to leave, but Garry Monk likely extended his deal for another month to provide cover for Cameron Dawson or Joe Wildsmith until Keiren Westwood is adequately replaced.
Lee has been a regular this season and is certainly worth keeping given the depleting numbers in midfield, but it doesn’t appear the two parties will agree a deal that keeps the 31-year-old at Hillsborough for another campaign.
Nuhiu may yet leave Wednesday at the end of his deal this summer, but he’s been useful from the bench and will temporarily offset the loss of Fletcher, Forestieri, Winnall and Fraser Preston for a handful of weeks.
Fletcher, Forestieri and Fox turning down new deals wasn’t a surprise when Monk hinted that players must accept less money due to the pandemic dwindling Wednesday’s finances, but they will be a loss next season – a £3.71m loss plus wages in Forestieri’s case.
Hutchinson has been frozen out of the first-team since January, so the £1.4m-rated man’s departure has been on the cards for months. Winnall has been on the periphery all season, so he’s likely relieved to be out of Sheffield.
Da Cruz hasn’t always set the place alight, but he’s a useful player in the squad that Monk felt was worth keeping for another month.
Murphy impressed during the tail-end of the season, so it’s no surprise that Wednesday sought to tie him down for a few more weeks.
Wickham has been in fine form since returning from lockdown, so keeping him was a no-brainer. With Fletcher gone, Monk has become reliant on the 27-year-old loanee for goals.
Windass impressed supporters during his short-term spell at Hillsborough and provides something different in midfield, so he was worth keeping for another month.
Bates hasn’t played since August and was reduced to reserve-team football earlier in the season, so it’s not a shock that the Owls have let him go.
