As he bids adieu to life at S6, one of Sheffield Wednesday’s heroes from the promotion has confirmed his next professional destination.
Though he struggled to get playing time this season, Wednesday supporters will always remember popular defender Reece James for his crucial part in the Owls’ 2022–2023 promotion from League One. He will return to Rotherham United, where in the 2014–15 season he briefly played on loan under Millers manager Steve Evans.
The Manchester United youth graduate first joined the team on loan from Blackpool and then became a permanent member last summer. He made 45 appearances with the Owls, mostly in defence, and he contributed four assists. His lone Wednesday goal was memorable—in their May 2017 “Miracle” play-off semi-final victory over Peterborough United, he leaped onto Lee Gregory’s deft dummy to poke home the third.
It represents the Millers’ most recent transfer in an already hectic summer of moves. James enters the New York Stadium after Jonson Clarke-Harris, Joe Rafferty, and Shaun McWilliams as Wednesday’s neighbours try to hold on and get promoted back to the Championship on their first try.
The Star reported earlier this week that James was scheduled to speak with Rotherham, who are rumoured to be interested in signing George Byers following the confirmation that his contract with Wednesday would expire in the upcoming weeks.
Tyreeq Bakinson, Ciaran Brennan, Juan Delgado, Lee Gregory, and James are among the seven senior Owls who will be released. Byers is one of the other two. Since then, Gregory has made Mansfield Town his home, where he will face James in League One the following year.
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