'Really, really hope' - Sheffield Wednesday boss opens up on Svante Ingelsson transfer amid interest from Portsmouth and Millwall
Sheffield Wednesday boss has been speaking about Pompey target Svante Ingelsson ahead of transfer deadline day on Monday
Henrik Pedersen retains hope Pompey target Svante Ingelsson will remain a Sheffield Wednesday player beyond the end of the January transfer window.
The Owls boss is holding out for club administrators to tell him that they don’t have to sell the highly-regarded midfielder ahead of Monday’s 7pm transfer deadline and that he can continue his stay at Hillsborough.
The Swede has been the subject of much speculation over the past week, with the Blues seeing a £300,000 bid rejected for Ingelsson.
Championship rivals Millwall are also reported to have been knocked back in their efforts to bring the former Rostock man to The Den, while Derby are also supposedly keen.
In the meantime, Ingelsson was named in Wednesday’s starting XI for their 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Wrexham on Saturday, with the loss his 29th appearance for the troubled Owls in all competitions this season.
The Swede produced another typically combative performance, with our sister paper The Star describing his display against the Dragons as that of a ‘gnarling, snarling footballer’.
Although Pompey have already recruited a player of that ilk this month in Ebou Adams - who scored his second goal in three appearances for the Blues in their 3-0 win against West Brom - a second midfield signing would no doubt improve the Fratton Park club’s chances of retaining their Championship status for another year.
But while Pompey retain hope of landing Ingelsson, Pedersen has similar ambitions.
When asked about the midfielder’s future, the Dane told the Yorkshire Post: ‘It would be awful (if he was sold).
‘He is a culture player - he sets the standard every day for what is okay and what is not okay.
‘He's a top human. He's a top professional player and he is strong in the way we want to play.
‘I really, really hope we don't need to sell him and that we can keep him.’
Why Svante Ingelsson move his ‘complex’
Ingelsson, Yan Valery, Ike Ugbo and Bailey Cadamarteri are among the Owls players who could exit Hillsborough before the end of the transfer window.
But speaking on the latest episode of Pompey Talk, The News’ Jordan Cross revealed why complexities exist around any move for Ingelsson.
He said: ‘Svante Ingelsson - it's complicated. That seems to be what goes hand in hand with him at the moment. And yes, it is complicated, as I understand it. There's barriers.
‘But what would that mean?
‘Ive spoken to you (Friday) and I've just written a Transfer Q&A where I've talked about it.
‘I was primarily speculating, perhaps could it be that Pompey need to make it add up in terms of finance? Do they need to free up a space, not just within the 25-man squad, but financially, like maybe moving on a Luke Le Roux?
‘I thought that was a kind of a plausible situation, but as I’ve got more and more information, I think it's more personal to Svante Ingelsson, the complexities of this.
‘I think there's geographical elements to it. I think there's kind of elements of convenience, I think that he wants transport links back to his homeland, and that may be part of the issue.
‘And then, obviously, there's Millwall's interest, and that's London, isn't it? The bright lights of London, could that be part of it as well and just a preference from perhaps Svante or anyone around him to have a geographical preference. So there's all that in the mix as well.
‘So yeah, before anyone does start jumping on Pompey and saying they're not paying the money, it's half a million, which has been spoken about, the bits and pieces I'm picking up on (are) that it might be a bit more about that, and that's certainly issues that Pompey can't really legislate for.’