Sheffield Wednesday's transfer of West Ham midfielder unlikely after developments - Charlton Athletic a possibility

Over the weekend The Star broke news that Wednesday were to engage in talks with Hammers midfielder Conor Coventry as manager Danny Röhl sought to beef up his options in midfield having seen John Buckley and Tyreeq Bakinson leave the club.

Introductory talks were understood to have gone well and Wednesday were believed to have been hopeful of securing a permanent deal for the 23-year-old ahead of competition from the Championship, League One and in Holland, though as reported by The Star on Wednesday evening, discussions are believed to have taken a turn in the last 24 hours.

It is now understood that barring another twist in the story, developments in the last few hours mean a deal to make Coventry an Owls player is looking very unlikely and that the Republic of Ireland youth international will look elsewhere, with League One Charlton Athletic a possible destination. One source described the deal as being 'on life support', though the exact reasons for the breakdown of the deal are not yet clear.

Röhl has made clear that shortlists are drawn up for each position in preparation for the fast-moving nature of the transfer window and that the club are working hard to bring in fresh talent in a range of positions. The Owls have already secured the loan signings of goalkeeper James Beadle and attacker Ike Ugbo, both of whom had loan agreements elsewhere terminated to join the Hillsborough club.

Speaking on Thursday, Röhl expressed a satisfaction with how quickly the Owls have been able to move in the transfer market thus far and revealed a new signing was 'very close'. It is not known whether Coventry was the subject of that discussion.