John Textor’s interest in Sheffield Wednesday is ‘genuine’ but Dejphon Chansiri is ‘not making it easy’

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As speculation increases around the idea of John Textor taking over at Sheffield Wednesday, EFL Analysis can exclusively reveal how the US businessman really feels about the club.

Sheffield Wednesday fans are desperate for their ongoing crisis to come to an end, and the departure of Dejphon Chansiri is seen as the key to solving that problem.

With a transfer ban and unpaid wages still prevalent issues, and a threadbare squad preparing for the new season to start, Owls supporters are not exactly filled with positivity right now.

Their saviour could well be John Textor, who has been linked with the club for some time now. And EFL Analysis has exclusive information that suggests his takeover could be a real possibility.

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John Textor has been doing his homework on Sheffield Wednesday

According to reports in Brazil — where Textor owns a share in Botafogo — there is a plan in place for Textor to make Wednesday part of his portfolio.

Now, as per information from our Chief Football Correspondent Graeme Bailey, we can reveal that John Textor does have “genuine interest” in purchasing Sheffield Wednesday from Chansiri.

We understand Textor has been asking around the people he respects in the game to glean as much information about the Owls as possible as he assesses his options.

However, as we have covered extensively in the past, Chansiri is still proving difficult to negotiate with. Apparently, the Thai businessman is still insistent that he will retain ownership of the club’s training ground if a takeover were to occur.

Editor’s note: After further investigation and consultation with our sources, we would like to issue a correction on the point above. We are told it is actually Hillsborough Stadium Chansiri is keen to keep rather than the training ground, which he no longer owns. The Sheffield Wednesday training ground is owned by Sheffield City Council.

Obviously, this is “not making it easy” for a deal to be struck and could well prove to be a major stumbling block for Textor.

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What do we know about John Textor?

John Textor, who made his riches through visual effects studio Digital Domain, currently has stakes in a number of football clubs across the world as part of the Eagle Football Holdings company.

He has recently sold his shares in Crystal Palace amid the controversy over their involvement in European football being in jeopardy due to Textor’s clash of interest with Lyon.

Textor also has stakes in Belgian outfit RWD Molenbeek and Brazilian side Botafogo, and it’s thought he could separate those two clubs into a different holdings company (along with either Sheffield Wednesday or Watford).

Interestingly, Textor does come with his fair share of issues, too. His company, Digital Domain, collapsed in 2012. Readers may also be aware of reports suggesting his players were not paid bonus payments, but we are told that was due to the governing body not releasing the prize money at the time.

At present, Textor is thought to have more than $1.2 billion in debt (as per The Telegraph). However, it’s worth noting that investments and holdings in stadiums will naturally inflate those debts, and in relative to other similar ownership groups, Textor’s debt is actually on the lower side.

Since the reports on Tuesday emerged, Textor himself has spoken about Sheffield Wednesday, insisting he is definitely interested in the club but has not officially entered negotiations as of yet.