Reece James explains ‘massive part’ of his Sheffield Wednesday return decision

It was confirmed on Friday that the defender had penned a permanent deal with the Owls following his very successful loan spell from Blackpool last season, with the 29-year-old joining for an undisclosed fee ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.

The former Wigan Athletic man explained that his plan was always to try and get back this season, and he wants to try and help them kick on now as they look for a strong season back in the second tier.

“Obviously I’m over the moon to get this sorted,” he told the club. “It’s taken a bit of time but I’m glad that it’s finally over the line now. It’s something that I’d set out to do from the end of the season once we got promoted and, yeah, I’m just glad to get it over the line… While the season was going on I realised how amazing this club is, the group of lads and everything about it, and I wanted to do something with the club. Getting promotion was the icing on the cake.

“The fans have been incredible with me since I came here, especially after what happened in my first game, and it’s a massive part of why I wanted to come back… The club is still not where it deserves to be, but hopefully we can make that happen and keep pushing to get it back where it belongs.”

James played 34 games across all competitions for Wednesday last season, and will be delighted to get his move done early so that he can play a full part in preseason as the Owls’ Championship return draws closer.