Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
Sheffield Wednesday are embroiled in a financial mess currently, and the parties involved in potential takeovers have been offered some glimmers of hope for the future.
Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri failed to pay some players for May, and some club staff had to take up emergency funding last month amid the ongoing issues at the club.
The situation has seen Sheffield Wednesday hit with a transfer window punishment, meaning the club cannot spend any transfer or loan fees for the duration dictated by the EFL.
Takeover talks have persisted throughout the Owls saga, and last week, one intermediary revealed Chansiri’s astronomical asking price is north of £100m.
With the Owls faithful desperate to see Chansiri end his 10-year tenure at the club, one former Premier League owner has told prospective owners why they should buy Sheffield Wednesday.
Simon Jordan tells prospective owners why they should buy Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday are the subject of a potential takeover, and two potential new owners have come forward to showcase their interest despite the Chansiri-induced saga.
Owls fans can’t agree on potential new owner Adam Shaw, who is the man leading one consortium strongly linked with buying the Owls, despite the Sheffield-born businessman having long been touted with a potential takeover.
Aside from Shaw, former Sheffield Wednesday owner Milan Mandaric, who sold the club to the Thai businessman for £37.5m in 2015, has planned crunch talks with Chansiri.
He also admitted to the BBC: “I want to see what could be a possibility to take over that club.”
Despite the negativity surrounding Chansiri, former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan believes the club represents a brilliant business opportunity.
Jordan said on TalkSport: “This is a club that I think has a huge opportunity, which is the reason why I was trying to get the Saudis to buy it.
“I was talking to John Textor (Crystal Palace part-owner) the other day, if he comes out of Palace, I was saying to him, that’s the football club you should be buying if you want to buy another English football club.
“I think it’s a club that you can buy and get huge momentum behind. They are knee deep in trouble because an owner is running it in a certain way.
“But there’s no doubt in my mind that a properly run Sheffield Wednesday with proper energy, proper momentum, proper policies, proper disciplines, proper focus on what it was doing should be a football club that’s operating at the top end of the Championship and looking at the Premier League.
“Because there was a time when this club was a significant force in the Premier League. Once upon a time when Trevor Frances was there, got two to an FA Cup final and a League Cup final, and was punching above its weight, and it’s been asleep for 23 years.
“A football club that you could harness like Sheffield Wednesday. If you got Sheffield Wednesday going you’d have everybody in the town supporting you; they’ll be behind you.
“That’s why I keep advocating to everybody and anybody, buy this football club.”
Despite the financial saga taking place at Hillsborough, and the ramifications of that for the Owls’ footballing future, there are so many reasons away from the Chansiri saga that go in Wednesday’s favour.
Reasons why prospective Sheffield Wednesday owners should buy the club
First of all, the Owls supporter base is the main reason why any prospective Sheffield Wednesday owner should buy the club.
Hillsborough Stadium boasts an attendance of 34,835 and the Wednesday faithful are some of the most dedicated fans in English football.
Additionally, head coach Danny Rohl is one of the top young coaching prospects in European football.
Although Rohl has gone to extreme lengths to seal his exit from Sheffield Wednesday, if a new ownership group could keep the German at the club, it would massively bolster the club’s future prospects.
As well as the manager, Sheffield Wednesday’s squad is littered with impressive second tier talent.
With in-demand star Pierce Charles wanting to stay, and veteran Barry Bannan set to stay at Sheffield Wednesday despite the saga, the glimmers of hope are there for the future at the Owls, the club just needs new ownership to bring them to fruition.