Sheffield Wednesday are having to prepare for life in League One for the first time in nine years after suffering relegation to the third tier of English football.

A season of turmoil which saw three permanent managers, financial issues and unpaid wages culminated in the Owls finishing bottom of the Championship, with Darren Moore unable to arrest the slide having arrived at the beginning of March.

He now faces a huge rebuild this summer with half of his squad out of contract, with the majority of those unlikely to remain due to the wages that they have been earning over the years at Hillsborough.

The club still hold some valuable assets though heading into the summer, and there could be a temptation by Dejphon Chansiri to cash in on a few of them to ease cash flow issues that might be happening.

We've ranked the 10 most valuable Owls players, excluding anyone who is out of contract this summer and is yet to pen a new contract - let us know if you agree!

A summer signing from Manchester City, it wasn't known if Dele-Bashiru was going to make an immediate impact in the first team or if he was one for the future, but then-manager Garry Monk soon threw him into the mix.

After a 3-0 loss to Rotherham though in which he played all 90 minutes, Dele-Bashiru sat on the bench for most of the rest of the season, but also missed time in 2021 after picking up an ankle injury.

The 20-year-old made eight league appearances in total and with the amount of players leaving the club this summer you'd hope that he will be a major player for them in League One in the engine room.

Barry Bannan and Massimo Luongo are both contracted though so it remains to be seen whether or not Dele-Bashiru will have to remain patient or if he becomes a regular fixture.

Borner is down the pack due to being 30 years old now and not having as much resale value as some other players, but he could be a key figure for the Owls next season.

The German has one year remaining on his deal and if you cast your mind back to last season, Borner was a regular and made 37 appearances.

He was restricted to just 26 league outings this past season and spent some time on the substitutes bench, with his defensive abilities not quite as good as they were in 2019.

Stepping down a level could see him dominate though and unless he's put on the transfer list he's likely to partner Chey Dunkley at the back in what could be a force to be reckoned with if both are on form all season.

Wednesday had three goalkeepers to choose from last season, with the more experienced Keiren Westwood getting the nod more often than not when he was brought in from Garry Monk's exile.

The Ireland international made 20 appearances between the sticks and that was just one more than Wildsmith, who had to then settle for a place on the bench unless Westwood wasn't fit to play.

Wildsmith though could once again assume the first-choice position in-between the sticks as Westwood's contract is up, and considering Moore has seen him in action you'd imagine he will get the nod ahead of Cameron Dawson and his value could rise with the more game-time he gets.

Green's arrival in January on a free transfer was expected to bolster Wednesday going forward, but he failed to really make an impact in the Championship.

Saying that though, the winger only really featured off the bench and many times he wasn't given enough time to change a game - next season however could be a lot different.

Many of Wednesday's wing options are departing and even though that area will probably be strengthened, Green will drop down a level and he will be hoping to impress and win a place in Moore's starting line-up, and considering he's still only 22 a season in League One could be the making of him.

Having missed a large chunk of the 2020/21 season due to injury, Dunkley was restricted to just 12 Championship appearances after joining from Wigan Athletic.

The 29-year-old will be hoping for differing fortunes next season though and he's returning to a division he knows well, having been promoted from it with the Latics in 2018.

Dunkley scored seven goals in the league that season and when he's on form he's a massive threat from set pieces, and that's something Moore can utilise next season if he's planning on having the centre-back as a regular starter.

You'll be hard pressed to find a more solid duo than Dunkley and Borner in League One next season, providing that they both remain at Hillsborough.

Like Dunkley, Luongo's season has been ruined by injury and played just 12 times, his last appearance coming in February.

A muscle injury suffered in training ended his season three months early and he will be looking to be fully-fit ahead of pre-season as there's every chance a midfield pivot of the Australia international and Barry Bannan could dominate everyone else in League One.

With Luongo though it's all ifs and buts because of his injury history - but League One is where the midfielder made his real breakthrough with Swindon Town before he got a move to Queens Park Rangers.

On his day, Luongo is a classy Championship operator but he may need a season in League One to find himself after a tough campaign on the sidelines.

Bannan showed his loyalty to the Owls back in February by penning a new deal to keep him around until 2023, so you assume that he will be sticking around and not being sold this summer.

From a technical standpoint, Bannan is without doubt Wednesday's most talented player but at the age of 31 he would only command so much of a transfer fee you'd imagine, but now in League One he would be worth a lot to the club and you can't imagine any other clubs in the third tier having a midfielder with the ability of Bannan.

He's been at Hillsborough since 2015 and has made over 250 appearances in all competitions for Sheffield Wednesday and that association doesn't look like ending anytime soon.

Eyebrows were raised in September when Paterson swapped Cardiff City for Sheffield Wednesday - especially for a fee of just £500,000.

The utility man had seemingly found a place in Neil Harris' side either up-front or behind the striker, but Kieffer Moore joining the Bluebirds meant that the Scotland international wasn't needed.

From a personal standpoint, Paterson had a decent debut season stats-wise for Wednesday, scoring eight times and providing four assists, but obviously the team matters more and he was a part of a relegated unit.

Despite that, it's unlikely that Wednesday will look to cash in, especially with all the transfer interest in one of his team-mates and Paterson could be the man that Moore builds around at the top end of the pitch.

The shining light of Wednesday going forward, especially in the final couple of months of the Championship season was Windass, who ended the campaign with nine goals and six assists.

Despite being a natural attacking midfielder in previous seasons, Windass has been used equally as an out-and-out striker this season and that's reflective of his goal tally.

Even though he's under contract for next season it looks increasingly unlikely that Windass will stay as there's mass transfer interest, with a number of Championship clubs taking a look along with relegated Premier League outfits West Bromwich Albion and Fulham.

Windass may end up going to the highest bidder this summer and considering his goal return this past season, it would be disappointing if Wednesday couldn't get at least £1 million for him.

Iorfa is perhaps the forgotten man for some, having not played since December due to an achilles injury which ended his season.

That kind of setback can be tough to recover from for some, but before that injury Iorfa was a powerful, athletic defender who was equally adept at playing at centre-back as he was right-back.

Named Wednesday's Player of the Year for the 2019/20 season, Iorfa attracted transfer interest from Watford at the start of the season but nothing came to fruition, however when he's fit and firing in League One you'd expect him to be the best defender in the division whichever position he's playing.

And when he is fit the rumour mill will no doubt circle because he is that classy - but it all comes down to whether or not he recovers fully both physically and mentally from such a bad injury.

If he does, then expect him to be a big transfer target for many Championship clubs come January 2022.