Sheffield Wednesday have been dealt a huge blow to their chances of landing Reece James this summer.

What's the talk?

That's according to a report by the Sheffield Star, who claim that, following the Owls' relegation to the third tier of English football, a deal for the 27-year-old Doncaster Rovers left-back will now be a great deal harder to get over the line for Wednesday.

The report goes on to state that Doncaster are extremely keen to keep the £540k-rated man at the Keepmoat Stadium this summer, and have subsequently offered James a new deal, with the defender's current contract set to expire next month.

Moore will be gutted

If a move for James is indeed scuppered by Wednesday's relegation to League One, it will undoubtedly come as gutting news for Darren Moore, who knows the left-back incredibly well - with the 47-year-old having managed him during his own spell at Doncaster.

Indeed, considering how well the left-back performed for Rovers last season, it would indeed appear as if he would have been an exceptional signing for the Owls ahead of their campaign in the third tier.

Over the £3.7k-per-week man's 43 League One appearances last term, he scored seven goals, registered two assists and created two big chances, as well as making an average of one interception, 1.7 tackles and 0.9 key passes per game, culminating in an average SofaScore match rating of 6.95 - ranking him as the club's fourth-best performer in League One.

As such, with Moore having to rebuild his Wednesday side from the bare bones this summer - as 17 of the Owls' first-team players are on contracts that expire in the coming weeks - the addition of a player who has excelled at League One level, who the manager knows extremely well and who could be available on a free transfer would have been something of a jackpot for the club.

However, there does still remain a chance of Moore convincing James - whom the Wednesday manager himself dubbed an "adaptable" player - of a move, but he will have to do so extremely in order to stop any other interested sides snapping the 27-year-old up.

In other news: Chansiri set for grave error over "exciting" SWFC gem who's a "big part of the future" - opinion