‘Next few weeks’ - Barry Bannan’s clear stance on his Sheffield Wednesday future

The Owls skipper has been almost ever-present once again this season, playing a huge role in the club’s resurgence under Danny Röhl, and he recently took his tally of appearances past the 400-mark after climbing into their top 15 of all time.

His contract is up in the summer – like so many others – but he says that, if it’s up to him, he won’t be going anywhere. The 34-year-old still feels like he has plenty left to offer, and reiterated his desire to see out the rest of his playing career at Hillsborough.

So is a decade of Bannan and Wednesday on the cards?

“Yeah, I think so,” he told The Star with a smile after winning our Player of the Season award. “If it’s down to me then of course, I’ve made it quite clear that I’d like to stay here and finish my career here - that’s never changed and never will. We’ll find out in the next couple of weeks who is staying and going, but I think I’ll be here for a tenth season.”

‘Baz’ could be seen speaking to chairman, Dejphon Chansiri, however he insists that his future wasn’t the thing being discussed on that particular occasion.

He explained, “It was nothing to do with contracts actually. To be honest, since the chairman came into this club he’s been brilliant to me, he’s looked after me and he’s been really good to me. I can’t say a bad word about him… I was just catching up with him, we were speaking about our families.

“But he’s always said to me that as long as my legs are working I’ll have a contract at Sheffield Wednesday. He said that a couple of seasons ago.

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“Maybe my legs have stopped working this season in his eyes and I don’t get one,” he joked. “But no, he’s always been a big admirer of mine and I’ve made it known that I want to stay with Sheffield Wednesday. A lot of it is down to the gaffer as well, but he’s been great with me and I think he wants me to stay - so hopefully I can get that done in the next few weeks.”

Wednesday face Sunderland on Saturday afternoon at 12.30pm knowing that a point will keep them in the second division, and the long-serving Owl will be desperate to make sure that – if he does stay – it’s as a Championship player.