Comparisons drawn to Carlos Carvalhal days at Sheffield Wednesday as International Owls look to make impact

The circumstances are different, the expenditure is different.

But the similarities are there, in terms of the welcoming of players of different nationalities and different football cultures. The unknown is exciting.

Social media has been littered with suggestions that Sheffield Wednesday find themselves in a place not dissimilar to that of the early days of Carlos Carvalhal’s reign, with players flying in from abroad to add to the Owls’ squad.

And while it is not yet balanced with the homegrown provens - yet at least - club captain Barry Bannan believes the new recruitment direction can offer something new and much-needed to their Championship effort.

He was one of the British players brought at the start of the Chansiri / Carvalhal combination and told The Star he sees big benefits in the direction they’ve taken - though there is work still to be done.

“If you go back to the Carlos days we had a lot of different nationalities here,” Bannan said. “It was a tight squad and a very good squad.

“You need a bit of difference in the squad, I think. And there’s the market these days, if you go for a young English player, they’re double the price of a some of these foreign players.

“I think it’s good to see different styles of play coming into the squad and to see it all coming together. We’ll take from their strengths, they’ll take from our strengths. When you join that up it can be powerful.”

The new methods and ways of working from new Owls boss Xisco has been clear, players have indicated. Training sessions are shorter and sharper, packed with detail and with a new way of thinking.

Patience will be required but the nature of the unknown, he said, will put teams on the back foot - at least at first look.

“With the manager coming in, he’s got a knowledge of foreign football,” Bannan continued. “That can be handy for the club. We’ve signed a few foreign players here who can be unknown to opposition teams and it can be powerful for us.

“And it will be hard for the other teams, not knowing what the strengths of these players will be.”