Fast progress is being made on a new contract for one of Sheffield Wednesday’s key men, The Star understands.
Having completed a remarkable survival effort in the Championship with a last day win at Sunderland, the Owls are in negotiations with seven senior players with regard to their futures; namely Barry Bannan, Cameron Dawson, Di’Shon Bernard, Dominic Iorfa, Liam Palmer, Will Vaulks and Josh Windass.
The Star understands that discussions with one of the goal scorers at The Stadium of Light, Liam Palmer, are progressing at pace and that a deal to extend his time at S6 is – as things stand – expected to be agreed sooner or later. A new deal would take Palmer into a 15th senior campaign with Wednesday having also spent one season as a youngster on loan with Tranmere Rovers.
The Star reported back in January that there was interest from the US in the 32-year-old, who is rapidly climbing the club’s all-time appearance makers list, sat eighth on 435 senior outings. An Owls academy graduate and boyhood Wednesdayite, club stalwart Palmer made his senior debut as far back as 2010 and is a two-time winner of the club’s player of the season award.
The proposed completion of a new deal would cap another show of resilience from the versatile Scotland international. In and out of the side under Xisco, he didn’t play a minute in any of Danny Röhl’s first six matches as Wednesday boss but battled back to play an integral role in their safety push, ending the season with 38 appearances across a number of different positions.
Talks continue with other the other players coming towards the end of their deals, with Wednesday keen to keep hold of the core of the squad that defied the odds to keep them up while recruiting players that can take them to the next level and towards Röhl’s outline target of a top 10 finish next season.
Speaking to The Star in April ahead of what could have proved to be his final game as a Wednesday player, Palmer reaffirmed his desire to continue his legacy at S6 and said: “It’s just something you have to put to the back of your mind. That’s easier for some than others, and for me it’s easy because I love this club – if it meant me breaking my leg in the last game of the season making a game-changing tackle or a block off the line, then I’d happily do it. That’s where my mind is at – whatever conversations happen after that, happen. You can only control the controllables.”
