Sheffield Wednesday captain Barry Bannan spells out clear stance on Massimo Luongo’s contract situation

Owls boss Darren Moore said last week that the club had initiated negotiations with ‘one or two’ players in the squad over their futures, though it is not known exactly which players had been approached.

The likes of Sam Hutchinson, Jack Hunt, Chey Dunkley and Nathaniel Mendez-Laing are believed to be among the players also coming to the end of their deals in the next couple of weeks.

But all focus at the club for now, Moore said, is on achieving promotion to the Championship ahead of back-to-back semi-final clashes with fellow third tier giants Sunderland.

Luongo was linked with a move away from S6 in the summer, with both English clubs and Australian clubs said to have been interested in signing him.

There had been concerns over the 29-year-old’s fitness record but a run of 20 appearances in the last 22 matches of Wednesday’s season suggest a history of niggles could be behind him.

Speaking to The Star, club captain and midfield colleague Barry Bannan made clear he would like to see Wednesday strike a deal with Luongo and extend his stay with the club into next season regardless of their divisional status.

“He’s been brilliant,” he said. “He’s been a big part of it and when he plays it makes my life a lot easier because I can go off and do the things I enjoy doing and he can do the things he says he doesn’t like doing, but he does because he does it every week!

“He’s been a big part of why we’ve turned a corner, a massive part of the club that has been here a while now, he’s experienced and he’s the type of person you want next to you going into these sort of games.

“I would love for him to be involved with the cub next season and hopefully Mass and the club can get all that sorted once we deal with business first.”

Speaking to The Star back in November, Luongo suggested he would be open to extending his stay at S6.