There could be a midfield exodus at Sheffield Wednesday this summer with Kieran Lee, Joey Pelupessy and Sam Hutchinson being out of contract in the coming months, so it’s surprising Yorkshire Live believe Barry Bannan could be on his way out too.
The report suggests Wednesday may be considering ‘sacrificing’ the 30-year-old as he hasn’t been at his best in 2019/20, but Bannan’s departure would leave the Owls with a young and inexperienced Alex Hunt and injury-prone Massimo Luongo next season.
Bannan joined Wednesday from Crystal Palace in 2015 and has gone on to make 200 appearances in all competitions, contributing 43 goals. The Scottish international has been a regular this season, making 37 appearances, but he’s struggled with inconsistency.
As per WhoScored, Bannan has scored two goals and made seven assists in 35 Championship appearances, created 79 chances, whipped in 184 crosses with 29% accuracy, completed 79.5% of his 1768 passes, won only 19% of his aerial duels, having 32 successful dribbles (76%), took 38 shots with 31.5% accuracy, blocked 25 shots/passes/crosses, made 10 clearances and averaged a tackle (51) or interception (34) every 36 minutes.
The 30-year-old hasn’t always been at his best, but he’s undoubtedly been one of Wednesday’s more reliable players over the course of the campaign. The Owls aren’t blessed with lucrative funds in which to sign players, so they’d struggling to replace Bannan on a budget.
With Lee, Hutchinson and Pelupessy potentially on their way out, Monk would be foolish to sell the one midfielder still contracted for another year, especially given his services to the club. Bannan was a free transfer five years ago and is one of the best players in the team on his day. He’s worth keeping.
