Sheffield Wednesday closing in on signing of Sheffield United defender

The Owls have been busy working on potential moves at the outset of their summer and are understood to be closing in on the completion of a deal that would bring 27-year-old Lowe across the city as a free agent when his contract ends at the end of the month. Sources suggest a medical is likely towards the end of the week.

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An England youth international across four age groups, Lowe signed for the Blades in 2020 in a double raid on Derby County that also saw Jayden Bogle make the move to Bramall Lane. He tallied 10 direct goal involvements across his 53 matches for United - one goal and nine assists - at a rate of nearly one in five. It’s a ratio he bettered in a 2021/22 Championship loan stint at Nottingham Forest, where he produced four assists and a goal in his 23 outings.

The Derbyshire-born left-back has also enjoyed loan stints with Shrewsbury Town and Aberdeen in a senior career spanning 182 matches. After the departure of Reece James to Rotherham United and with loanee Kristian Pedersen heading back to parent club Swansea City, Lowe will offer strength at left-back and has often played as a more advanced wing-back or midfielder. He has two Championship promotions on his CV; one with United and one with Forest.

Elsewhere at the start of what is expected to be a busy summer, the departure of Will Vaulks to fellow Championship side Oxford United was confirmed on Tuesday, while experienced goalkeeper Ben Hamer is expected to join Wednesday amid the likely exit of long-time Owls stopper Cameron Dawson. The Star understands Wednesday remain keen on bringing last season’s loan trio of James Beadle, Ian Poveda and Ike Ugbo back to S6 and that talks have been initiated over deals for all three players.

With the transfer window set to officially open on Friday, interest is there on a number of other players with manager Danny Röhl having made clear he would like to see the bulk of his work done sooner rather than later ahead of the club’s pre-season programme. Barry Bannan and Liam Palmer have signed to new contracts along with Röhl. Talks continue with Josh Windass, Di’Shon Bernard and Dominic Iorfa over proposed new deals.