Sheffield Wednesday facing further restrictions on player recruitment

Sheffield Wednesday face further restrictions on player recruitment over late payments, the EFL has said.

The Owls were already under a transfer embargo and the EFL announced on Wednesday that the Championship club were now also subject to a three-window fee restriction, covering the current summer window, January 2026 and next summer’s registration period.

The club immediately indicated their intention to appeal against the fee restriction, but it will stay in place unless the appeal is upheld by an independent commission.

The fee restriction prevents them from signing a player permanently or on loan where the transfer or loan involves a fee or any other form of consideration being paid or provided at some date in the future.

The fee restriction was imposed after the club exceeded 30 days of late payments between July 1 last year and June 30 of this year, the EFL said.

Earlier this month the club and their owner Dejphon Chansiri were charged by the EFL over non-payment of player wages in March and May of this year. Those proceedings are currently being considered by an independent commission.

Those liabilities to their players led to a transfer embargo being imposed, under which Wednesday can only “staff up” to a maximum of 23 professional players.

The embargo would lift if and when the club pay those liabilities.