Billy Mitchell, a recently departed Millwall midfielder, has joined Sheffield Wednesday as their ninth acquisition of the transfer window.

The EFL’s busiest team in the transfer window this summer was on track to have a relatively quiet week in terms of incomings before the 25-year-old arrived to reinforce Henrik Pedersen’s midfield ahead of Wednesday’s League One return.

Mitchell is another example of a player going down the EFL to sign for the Owls this summer, highlighting Sheffield Wednesday’s appeal in League One and how intriguing the project is under the new Arise ownership.

The midfielder has 184 Championship appearances, all for boyhood club Millwall, and has yet to play below the second division. Injuries hampered his final two seasons at the Den, but when fit, he started 24 games for the team that ended one point behind the automatic promotion positions last year.

He is not the first player many believe will join Sheffield Wednesday in League One despite his ability to play at a higher level, nor is he the first to leave Millwall this summer.

Barry Bannan reacted to Billy Mitchell’s Sheffield Wednesday statement.

Mitchell will have a familiar face next to him in the midfield at Hillsborough, as Barry Bannan returned to Sheffield Wednesday after a brief spell at Millwall last season.

The 36-year-old Owls veteran left Wednesday in January amid uncertainty about the club’s future, which was under administration at the time, with James Bord as the preferred bidder.

With David Storch and co. in place, Bannan has returned to the club where he spent ten and a half years before leaving last season, while Mitchell has also moved from Millwall to Sheffield Wednesday.

Bannan didn’t stay long at the Den, but it’s apparent that his senior character and expertise in the engine room helped him form ties with his fellow midfielders at the club, and he shared his delight at Mitchell joining the Owls on his Instagram story.

Bannan commented, “My mukka🦉🤝,” on the official Sheffield Wednesday announcement of Mitchell’s signing, indicating the two are close.

The two only started a few games together in the second half of last season, with the 36-year-old spending most of his time on the bench. At Hillsborough, the two will want to form a midfield partnership that will last the entire season.

Barry Bannan and Billy Mitchell might be Sheffield Wednesday’s starting midfield pivots in League One.

With Sheffield Wednesday entering the summer in severe need of reinforcement after a year in which their senior squad was decimated, many are wondering how the new-look Owls will line up the following season.

According to the Sheffield Star, Henrik Pedersen’s side won a behind-closed-doors friendly against Championship club Preston North End on Saturday, with the Danish manager starting with a 4-2-3-1 configuration.

Fellow newcomer Callum Slattery started in attacking midfield, indicating that he will not be playing with Bannan in pivot roles next season, as many expected.

Instead, the stronger first-half XI featured Bannan alongside Nathaniel Chalobah, who is training with the Owls despite being released at the conclusion of last season. Mitchell certainly did not appear, considering he was announced the following day.

So, if Pedersen sticks with a similar configuration as the new season begins, Mitchell will likely accompany Bannan, with Slattery pulling the strings further forward.

The two former Millwall players will already have that relationship, which will be a significant advantage for a starting eleven that will be largely made up of debutants when League One begins on August 15 against Leyton Orient. Before that, they will face Bolton Wanderers in the EFL Cup first round for the second consecutive year on August 8.