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Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri finally broke his silence on the club’s current situation, but supporters weren’t too pleased with one comment he made.
Sheffield Wednesday have dominated the headlines for all the wrong reasons this summer. The EFL hit the Owls with a three-window transfer ban after Dejphon Chansiri failed to pay his players in May.
Remarkably, not being able to pay transfer or loan fees for new signings isn’t their biggest problem, as players could walk out of Sheffield Wednesday if Chansiri doesn’t find a resolution to their payment for June.
Amid the financial turmoil at Hillsborough, Adam Shaw wants to buy the club, but the Malaysian businessman has set an astronomical asking price on Sheffield Wednesday.
John Textor has also considered buying Wednesday, although after being the main reason behind Lyon’s relegation to Ligue 2, he doesn’t appear to be the answer to their problems. Worryingly, Chansiri’s latest update offers no simple resolution to a desperate situation.
Sheffield Wednesday fans react to Dejphon Chansiri’s £5m demand
Chansiri commented on Shaw’s takeover bid in a rare statement on Thursday, stating: “The first offer was $40m plus limited future payments based upon promotion to the Premier League – not $65m as was said at the forum.
“The second offer was £40m plus limited future Premier League promotion payments – far from a guaranteed $75m which was reported in the second media interview.”
After revealing the truth behind Shaw’s supposed $75m bid, the 57-year-old also revealed that another person from a consortium wanted to take over, but he wanted a deposit of £5m as a down payment for the club, as he had yet to see proof of funds.
This is a normal procedure when there’s interest in a takeover, but some supporters offered their thoughts on X, suggesting he would use the ‘deposit’ to pay the players’ wages.
“Pay me 5 mill deposit so I can pay the players and staff“ absolute lunatic,” one fan wrote.
“5 mill for talks?” another questioned, while a third said asked similar: “He wanted a £5m deposit just to hold initial conversations??”
“Wanted £5m upfront just to sit down and negotiate a price, with an agreement to pay it back if a price can’t be agreed.. he can’t pay the current bills no one’s laying him £5m on,” someone else commented.
“So he wants a bidder to pay him £5m with no guarantee of a final price or even if they’ll see the cash again , in what world would someone accept that,” a sixth replied.
What’s next for Sheffield Wednesday?
Chansiri’s update suggests Shaw taking over the club is unlikely to happen, and with Textor not being fit for purpose, it sends Wednesday back to square one.
As it stands, the squad are going unpaid for June unless he finds a resolution, with several players likely to walk out of Hillsborough.
Sheffield Wednesday are also willing to relieve Danny Rohl of his duties, potentially ending what has been a long, drawn-out process for the German to make a decision.
But the chances of anyone wanting to take this job without a new owner in place are incredibly slim, and that is why supporters have to hope the next prospective buyer meets Chansiri’s valuation.