Sheffield Wednesday's Barry Bannan intent on rapid return to Premier League

The 26-year-old – who joined the Owls on a 12-month contract last summer from top-flight side Crystal Palace – yesterday signed a three-and-a-half year contract at Hillsborough.

Bannan’s deal – striker Atdhe Nuhiu also penned a new contract until 2018 – completed a hectic 48 hours for Wednesday, who host Leeds United tomorrow lunchtime in a Yorkshire derby in the Championship.

Right-back Jack Hunt turned his loan deal from Palace into a permanent move, while the on-off deal to bring in Bolton Wanderers midfielder Mark Davies to S6 was still in the balance last night.

But the deal for Bannan – who has been one of Wednesday’s outstanding players this season and attracted Premier League interest – is an astute piece of business by the Owls.

The former Aston Villa starlet is confident he can make a swift return to the Premier League with his new club.

“I have loved it at Hillsborough since day one,” said Bannan.

“I can now concentrate on my football and try and get Sheffield Wednesday in the Premier League.

“There’s good things happening here.

“I have now found a club that suits my style of play, and a club that loves me. That’s shown on my performances on the pitch.

“I have had the years in the Premiership and can say ‘yes, I am a Premiership footballer’.

“But I wasn’t ready, because I wasn’t playing week-in, week-out, which I am now.

“I am enjoying my football in the Championship, I want to get back to the Premiership, but I want to get there with Wednesday.”

Nuhiu shares Bannan’s sentiments regarding securing Premier League football. The Owls currently sit seventh in the Championship, three points behind fourth-placed Burnley.

The 26-year-old Austrian said: “I came here with a mission and the mission isn’t finished yet.

“I’m very proud and honoured that I can continue and hopefully finish what we have started.

“We all know where we want to take this club and that is to the Premier League. That is the mission.”

Striker Gary Hooper plays the final game of his current loan against Leeds tomorrow, before returning to Norwich City.

He has netted four goals in his last five games – including a match-winning double against Bolton in midweek – and Bannan hopes Hooper can join him in pledging his future to Wednesday. “Hooper has been brilliant,” he said. “The last few weeks he has been unbelievable.

“I would love to see him sign (permanently) because the better players we have, the better chance we have of getting to the Premier League.

“He’s got that talent where he can win you a game on his own, and he did that on Tuesday.

“It would be great to see him sign long-term for us.”

Hooper and fellow striker Fernando Forestieri are slight injury doubts for tomorrow.

But head coach Carlos Carvalhal was staying tight-lipped yesterday about extending Hooper’s stay in Sheffield, either on loan or a permanent £3.5m deal.

“I don’t talk about contracts,” said Carvalhal.

“When I arrived here, he was my first choice. I brought him in and I said at the beginning that I want to stay with him.

“I think he can do much better. I have known him for a long time. If he plays on Saturday, I hope he can do well like all the team.”

Carvalhal hailed Bannan’s deal as “fantastic news” as he looks to tie down the long-term futures of his talented, but emerging, squad.

“I know Barry very well – like Gary Hooper when he was at Celtic – I saw a lot of games, and they are players that I have known of for a long time,” he said.

“Barry is a player I know, a small guy but with a big talent on the ball.”

But Carvalhal admitted he was surprised Wednesday managed to snare a player whom he rates very highly.

“It’s strange to me, that this player doesn’t play in the Premier,“ said the Portuguese coach.

“He has the ability to play in the Premier League in England, because he is a fantastic player.

“We are very happy to be with him, because he has abilities to play at another level.

“But he is very happy here and belongs in the idea that we have as a team. He loves the football, and prefers to stay here. That’s fantastic news.”

Carvalhal is expecting a tough game tomorrow against Steve Evans’s side, when the Owls will look to make it four successive wins. Only Middlesbrough have won at Hillsborough this season, back in August.

He said: “I have seen their team, they play positive football. I don’t know Steve personally, but I know how his team plays. It will be a tough game, absolutely.”