Sheffield Wednesday forward Josh Windass has left the Owls by mutual consent amid the club’s ongoing financial crisis.
Sheffield Wednesday finished the 2024/25 Championship game in mid-table security of 12th-place, but the club’s post-season summer has been anything but stable.
Under owner Dejphon Chansiri, financial turmoil has plagued the Owls for several weeks now, with Wednesday having had three EFL embargoes hanging over Hillsborough.
Thankfully, two Sheffield Wednesday embargoes have been lifted. However, the unrest does not stop there, as EFL Analysis exclusively revealed earlier this week that Danny Rohl will leave Sheffield Wednesday in the coming days.
The news of Rohl’s imminent departure comes amid Owls legend Josh Windass departing the club, and one football expert has shared a damning verdict on the Sheffield Wednesday situation.
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty ImagesDejphon Chansiri told to sell Sheffield Wednesday soon after Josh Windass exit
The latest blow in a summer of woes for Sheffield Wednesday came with the news that forward duo Josh Windass and Michael Smith have left the club by mutual consent after their contracts were terminated.
Windass was likely to leave Sheffield Wednesday throughout the summer, and the Englishman will have no shortage of potential suitors, after he scored 13 goals and notched five assists in 44 Championship appearances for the Owls last term.
With the pair who scored 21 goals between themselves last season exiting this summer, Sheffield Wednesday fans will fear relegation in 2025/26 if they are not adequately replaced for Rohl’s eventual successor.
With a recent Sheffield Wednesday takeover bid collapsing, Owls owner Chansiri has been told to sell the club soon by a football expert.
Legendary football journalist Henry Winter said on X: “Josh Windass getting out and giving up a year’s guaranteed contract reflects the turbulence at Sheffield Wednesday.
Josh Windass getting out and giving up a year’s guaranteed contract reflects the turbulence at Sheffield Wednesday. The sooner Dejphon Chansiri sells up the better. Another reminder of why the incoming Independent Football Regulator cannot start quickly enough. #SWFC https://t.co/XKVNkx6pTY
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) July 17, 2025
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“The sooner Dejphon Chansiri sells up the better. Another reminder of why the incoming Independent Football Regulator cannot start quickly enough.”
Owls skipper Barry Bannan reacted to Windass’ departure with a heartfelt message on social media, and one which will be mirrored by the Hillsborough fanbase after Windass’ miraculous efforts in his five-and-a-half season stint at Wednesday.
Photo by Scott Llewellyn | MI News/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesJosh Windass will always be classed as a Sheffield Wednesday hero
Windass arrived at Sheffield Wednesday from Wigan Athletic in January 2020, and went on to score 53 goals and register 22 assists in 182 appearances for the Owls.
Of all the stunning moments the former Rangers frontman produced in an Owls jersey, the 123rd-minute winner in the League One play-off final victory over Barnsley to conclude the 2022/23 season on a monumental high will be the most well remembered.
Without Windass’ goalscoring exploits, Sheffield Wednesday wouldn’t have returned to the second tier in 2023.
Although his form tailed off slightly in 2023/24, his seven goals and two assists still played a crucial part in keeping the Owls safe from instant relegation in Rohl’s first season in charge.
The 2025/26 season could be the best Championship season yet, which fuels the importance for Chansiri and the Owls’ recruitment team to attempt to adequately replace the goalscoring void left by 31-year-old Windass’ departure.
After his heroic exploits in S6 over recent seasons, that will inevitably be another testing task on the Thai businessman’s ever-growing summer to-do list.