GEOFF Sheard is pressing on with an attempt to buy Sheffield Wednesday though the club have denied that a takeover is imminent.
Sheard broke his silence on the three-month saga to tell The Star: "Because of Takeover Panel rules, I cannot make any comment. But we are still pursuing the purchase of the club."
The affair took a new twist when the club told the Stock Exchange yesterday that they have yet to receive "any offer proposal from any party that is sufficiently clear or developed."
The Owls also say that Dave Allen, Keith Addy and Geoff Hulley have not "entered into any arrangement" to sell their shares, and that the club are open to dialogue with any would-be investor.
Sources very close to the Sheard group indicated earlier in the week that a deal had been lined up with the three major shareholders and that Sheard had appointed leading accountants Grant Thornton to administer it.
A spokesman for the business and finance company told The Star: "This is not a matter on which we feel we can comment."
This all follows national speculation last week that a £40m takeover of the Sheard-led consortium was imminent.
Sheard and Wednesday are limited in what they can say, by the rules of the Stock Exchange's Takeover Panel, which regulates takeovers.
The club's statement that no deal has yet been done also clearly applies to Sheard's rivals, the UK-based Jon Sotnick consortium.
Sheard is said to be backed by German, Swiss and London money - with earlier talk of Russian support subsiding - but Wednesday, Reading and Southampton are now also being linked with a Canadian group, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.
Meanwhile, Owls midfielder Graham Kavanagh is fit for a comeback against Norwich - as Brian Laws warns that the Owls must take heed of 1990 - when he played for the Forest side that sent them down.
He told The Star: "We can't expect Norwich to switch off. In 1990, Brian Clough was determined that we should do a professional job, out of respect for all the other teams. Norwich will be trying to do the same. It's a warning to us."
Click here to see the Owls full statementWhat do you think? Post your comments below. READ MORESheffield Eagles mark 10th anniversary of historic Wembley win: CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO REPORTOWLS TALK - Paul Thompson discusses Wednesday's survival chances ahead of their last match of the season: CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO REPORTBLADES TALK - James Shield discusses the challenge faced by one Blades player who will be lining up against them on Sunday: CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO REPORTLeon's a lion for Owls fans - SEZ LES Football headlines.More Blades.More Owls.More Spireites.More Rovers.More Reds.More Millers.More Ice Hockey.More rugby.More boxing.Sports columnists.All sport categories. The full article contains 482 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
