Portsmouth, Millwall and Derby learn key contract detail of Sheffield Wednesday midfielder targeted in January

January Pompey target Svante Ingelsson won’t become an automatic free agent once Sheffield Wednesday’s Championship commitments end at the season’s finish and they start preparing for life in League One.

And that will come come as something of a blow for those clubs who were keen to prise the Swede away from the Owls in the transfer window - including the Blues, who reportedly had a £300,000 bid for the midfielder rejected by the Hillsborough outfit’s current administrators.

Indeed, any potential follow-up enquiry for the highly-rated 27-year-old will be greeted with the news that Sheffield Wednesday’s option of a 12-month extension to Inglesson’s soon-to-expire contract remains valid, irrespective of their relegation to the third tier of English football.

Some clubs and players have clauses written into contracts that allow them to part ways in the unfortunate circumstances of a relegation.

However, Owls boss Henrik Pederson has confirmed that won’t be the case with Ingelsson, who continues to lead by example in Wednesday’s engine room in spite of the club’s ongoing financial crisis.

He told The Star: ‘Yes, it's still possible (to extend his contract). Svante, for me, he's a culture player.

‘He is the guy the others can look at, and wow, he's not always speaking, but he's always showing what he's doing, and he's working amazing for our team. He's a strong, strong human and he's a very strong player for us.

‘He's a strong leader for us. He's just a good picture of Sheffield Wednesday.’

Why Svante Ingelsson turned down Pompey, Millwall and Derby in January

Former Udinese and Rostock midfielder Ingelsson has started 34 Championship games for the Owls this season amid their off-field troubles.

Pompey, alongside both Millwall and Derby, were hoping the situation at Hillsborough would enable them to lure him away to boost their respective relegation battles and promotion ambitions.

Yet none were successful, with the midfielder intent on sticking by Wednesday regardless of the issues that have engulfed the club this season.

At the time, The News came to learn that any move for Ingelsson was complex and that personal reasons where hampering any efforts to entice him to the south coast.

That led to Pompey abandoning their pursuit of the player late in the transfer window and the Blues making Ebou Adams their only midfield reinforcement during the transfer window.

Whether the Blues try their luck again in the summer remains to be seen.

But with both Andre Dozzell and Marlon Pack out of contract in the summer and the jury still out on Luke Le Roux, midfield is sure to come under their transfer microscope once again during the close season - irrespective of which division Pompey find themselves in next term.

For your next Pompey read: 6 red flags Portsmouth need to address now to avoid Championship relegation