There could be an exodus of midfielders at Sheffield Wednesday this summer.
The Owls have one out-of-contract player who was frozen out of the first team, one out-of-favour player returning from loan, one underperforming first-teamer whose contract is up in the coming months and one other midfielder whose deal is running out.
Little progress has been made tying down players whose contracts are up this summer and Garry Monk doesn’t look likely to make a U-turn on his decision to exile a first-teamer, so Wednesday could lose up to four midfielders in one transfer window.
Sam Hutchinson looks destined to leave Wednesday after being bombed out of the first-team in January. The 30-year-old was a regular under Monk until the turn of the year, but it’s been four months since he last made the matchday squad.
Hutchinson’s contract will expire in a matter of weeks and it doesn’t appear a new deal is on the table, so his six-year association with the club may be coming to an end.
Connor Kirby is another midfielder whose contract is up this summer and it’s hard to see him being retained as he’s only made four appearances in all competitions for Wednesday.
The 21-year-old is behind Hutchinson, Kieran Lee, Massimo Luongo, Bary Bannan, Joey Pelupessy and Alex Hunt in the pecking order, forcing him to spend the season on loan at Macclesfield Town (League Two) to regular playing time, so he won’t be missed.
Joey Pelupessy is coming off the back of a disappointing season and is out of contract this summer, so his future at Hillsborough is uncertain.
The 27-year-old only made 12 Championship appearances this season and found himself behind Hutchinson, Lee, Luongo and Bannan for most of the campaign, so it’s clear he’s expendable.
Wednesday have been in talks over a new deal but may opt against tying Pelupessy down, so he may have played his final game for the club.
Kieran Lee has been a regular under Garry Monk, but the 31-year-old’s future is up in the air as his contract has been allowed to run down without Wednesday putting a new deal on the table.
Lee has made 25 appearances in all competitions this season, but his eight-year association with the club could be coming to an end unless Wednesday open up talks.
