Sheffield Wednesday extending Joey Pelupessy’s contract drew confusion from a lot of supporters and surprised Vital Wednesday.
The 27-year-old was coming off the back of a disappointing season and was out of contract this summer, so many people could be forgiven for thinking he would be offloaded.
Vital Wednesday have already given a handful of reasons why Pelupessy was given a new deal, but here’s a full explanation.
Age and resale value
Pelupessy recently turned 27 and is the youngest regularly-playing midfielder Garry Monk has at his disposal – Barry Bannan (32), Kieran Lee (31), Sam Hutchinson (30), Massimo Luongo (turns 28 in September) – so he has resale value if it ever came to it.
By keeping the Dutchman, Wednesday will get many more years of service than they would with Pelupessy’s ageing teammates, so the club may be thinking long-term with the decision.
Low wages
Dejphon Chansiri’s overspending has forced Monk to trim the wage bill. Pelupessy earns less (£0.42m-a-year/£8k-a-week) than Bannan (£0.94m-a-year/£18k-a-week), Luongo (£0.55m-a-year/£10.6k-a-week), Hutchinson (£1.04m-a-year/£20k-a-week) and Lee (£0.94m-a-year/£18k-a-week), so he’s an inexpensive option.
A number of high-earners could be leaving Wednesday in the coming weeks, so it’s no surprise why younger players on less money (Osaze Urhoghide, Matt Penney) are more appealing to Monk. It’s time for a rebuild at Hillsborough.
Midfield exodus
Hutchinson, Lee and Connor Kirby are out of contract this summer, so Monk could be left with only Bannan, Luongo and youngster Alex Hunt if another midfielder was also allowed to leave.
Wednesday risk going into next season with only 13 first-team players, so it was damage limitation to exercise Pelupessy’s contract option. The Owls had to keep one player.
Hunger and desire
Monk has spoken about the importance of having players with the right attitude in the squad. Pelupessy seems to epitomise exactly what his manager wants – he loves playing for Wednesday, is desperate to stay for the long-term and comes across as a positive influence in the dressing room.
On the pitch, he’s industrious and can’t be accused of not giving his all. Add all that up and it makes sense for Wednesday to extend his deal, even if he’s struggled for form.
