Sheffield Wednesday forced to leave players off squad list due to EFL restrictions

Wednesday boss, Xisco, will have to select 25 players that he’ll be able to use in the first half of the 2023/24 campaign, but the size of the collective at the moment means that at least a couple of them won’t make the cut when it’s submitted to the English Football League.

According to the EFL’s regulations, Championship clubs are able to name 25 players in their list – which has to be submitted early this week – of which eight must fall into the ‘home grown’ category, which means a player that has been registered with his current club or another club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for 36 months prior to his 21st birthday.

Unlike in League One and League Two, goalkeepers do count towards the total in the second tier of English football, however players who were under the age of 21 at the start of 2023 are exempt – meaning that Djeidi Gassama, 19, doesn’t take up a spot.

Ciaran Brennan, who hasn’t featured since preseason, is almost certainly going to miss out, while Marvin Johnson – such a key figure last season – may be the other given that he’s completely fallen off the radar under the Spanish manager.

The only thing that could change that, potentially, is the severity of Momo Diaby’s injury, with no word yet on how long he’ll be out for. If it’s serious and means months on the sidelines then the Owls may choose to leave him off the list until he’s fit to play again, whenever that may be.

Here’s Wednesday’s full list of 28 senior players who are currently contracted to the club following the closure of the transfer deadline last week.

Devis Vasquez

Cameron Dawson

Di’Shon Bernard

Dominic Iorfa

Michael Ihiekwe

Bambo Diaby

Akin Famewo

Ciaran Brennan

Reece James

Liam Palmer

Pol Valentin

Will Vaulks

Tyreeq Bakinson

Momo Diaby

John Buckley

Jeff Hendrick

George Byers

Barry Bannan

Marvin Johnson

Josh Windass

Djeidi Gassama

Juan Delgado

Anthony Musaba

Mallik Wilks

Callum Paterson

Ashley Fletcher

Michael Smith

Lee Gregory