Sheffield Wednesday will have to hope the uncertainty at Manchester United does not frustrate their attempts to get loanee Harry Amass back for the resumption of their Championship programme.

Amass joined the Owls on a season-long loan in August, but returned to Old Trafford as scheduled for the deal to be reassessed after Sunday's 3-0 defeat at Queens Park Rangers.

The 18-year-old has been the best player of Wednesday's first half of the season but with other suitors circling, getting him back may not be straight-forward.

Sorting out Amass' immediate future will almost certainly not be as high a priority at Old Trafford as it is at Hillsborough.

The Red Devils sacked coach Ruben Amorim on Monday and have appointed under-18s coach Darren Fletcher as his replacement. There have been suggestions they may look to name an interim coach until the end of the season after FA Cup third-round weekend.

They may want to give Fletcher or the next interim if it is not him the opportunity to have left wing-back Amass available to them. Amass made four Premier League starts last season.

The Premier League giants pride themselves on bringing through academy players, and Amorim's criticisms in December of "entitled" graduates, in which he namechecked Amass, was a PR disaster for them.

Further complicating the matter, they have an interim head of loans and pathways after the man who sanctioned Amass' departure, Jonny Evans, left his role in December. His temporary replacement, Stephen Torpy, is also the academy director and may find his day job takes up more of his time for as long as Fletcher is with the first team.

IN DEMAND: Harry Amass (Image: Steve Ellis)

placeholder image — IN DEMAND: Harry Amass (Image: Steve Ellis)

The Owls' next game is at home to Brentford in the FA Cup on Saturday and although victory – and the prize money which comes with it – would be welcome, maintaining Amass' record of having played every minute of Championship football since his debut is a more realistic goal.

Portsmouth are at Hillsborough on January 17, the first of four more league games before the transfer window shuts at 7pm on February 2. Amass would have to be registered by noon to play at Blackburn Rovers the next day.

Even with Sean Fusire’s Zimbabwe and Yan Valery’s Tunisia both now knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations, they are desperately light on numbers, and had to hand out first Championship starts to two players over Christmas.

The Red Devils were hugely accommodating to ensure Amass was one of only two signings (with goalkeeper Ethan Horvath) the Owls were given permission to make during the financial meltdown of the summer transfer window.

CARETAKER: Darren Fletcher will take charge of Manchester United at Burnley on Wednesday (Image: Michael Steele/Getty Images)

The Championship’s bottom club are not allowed to pay a loan fee in this window, just as they were not allowed to in the last, and the Old Trafford hierarchy agreed to meet extra additional costs to facilitate a move they are said to have been pleased with.

But there is thought to be considerable interest from other Championship clubs who could pay loan fees.

Wednesday's situation is also unclear as they are in the throes of a takeover with their preferred bidder, believed to be former Sheffield United advisor James Bord, undergoing the Football League's owners and director's test.

The Red Devils may be more reluctant to sign off a "free" loan to a club which has had an injection of cash, though it is not known if the takeover will be sanctioned before the transfer window closes.