Businessman claims $65m and $75m Sheffield Wednesday offers

The Star has previously reported that two offers for the Owls had been turned down, and now Shaw, who has been in and out of the picture for a couple of years, has said how much those bids were worth.

A report from The Athletic on Monday night read, “Shaw, who has been speaking to Chansiri about buying the club for two years, says his group offered $65million (£48m), with a significant chunk of that in performance-related bonus payments, in April. That was flatly rejected, so the group returned the following month with a bid of a guaranteed $75m, only to receive short shrift once more.”

It also said elsewhere that Shaw claimed ‘the 16-strong group’ looking at taking over from Chansiri ‘includes current and former Major League Baseball players, an ex-Premier League star and, if the deal can be done, a well-known celebrity’.

“Sheffield Wednesday are nowhere in America”

Shaw went on to speak about his ambitions of seeing Wednesday develop a fanbase in adopted home of America, suggesting that they have more scope for growth than the Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds project at Wrexham.

“Sheffield Wednesday are nowhere in America,” he said. We sell zero shirts and have no commercial presence there — that’s got to change. With the World Cup in the U.S. next year and with the individuals we have in our ownership group, we could easily become Florida’s English football team.

“We should and can be way bigger than Wrexham. Ryan Reynolds would give his left leg to have what we already have at Wednesday in terms of our history and fanbase. Let’s use that.”

Last week an intermediary with knowledge of the Owls’ situation, spoke about how difficult it has been, and how so much of it has played out in the media. Shaw’s comments have now added to that.

“It’s interesting to see how all of this has played out in public,” he said in an anonymous piece with The Star. “There will always be speculation in football but I have been shocked about how all of this has been played out in detail on social media, on forums, in the media. I think that has caused more damage than good.

“To make it absolutely clear, that’s not me highlighting any particular person or party. Messages from the club side have been posted on social media, stuff from interested parties have been played out on social media. I can honestly say that in all my time in this space and being around this sort of thing, I’ve never seen a deal pan out so publicly and as negatively as this. It’s bizarre.”

Wednesday are currently still under embargo due to the fact that many players remain unpaid for May, while a three-window transfer fee restriction is in place on the back of them breaching the English Football League’s 30-day rule. The embargo will be lifted when players are paid, but the restriction will not.

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