Exclusive:Sheffield Wednesday suitors, Mike Ashley’s millions and academy concerns
Sheffield Wednesday’s situation needs remedying, and there is work being done in the background to try and make that happen.
The Owls have been going through a torrid time of things for months now, and though they’ve managed to shake Dejphon Chansiri they are left with a club that has no current way of progressing.
On the field they’re struggling against the tide and bound for League One, and off it there’s fresh turmoil after the consortium led by James Bord decided to pull the plug on their involvement after deciding that – with £47.8m – they’d offered too much.
It leaves the administrators, Begbies Traynor, with the task of finding a new preferred bidder – something they hope to do at the earliest opportunity. The Star understands that they would like to see any potential bidders submit their offers within the next week or so.
Mike Ashley is in the running
One of those expected to do so is billionaire, and former Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley, who is known to have an interest in buying the Hillsborough club. His representatives are believed to be meeting with reps from Begbies Traynor this week, and this publication understands that names have already been earmarked for key roles within the club if he was to take over.
On top of that it has also indicated that the retail mogul would be willing to sink around £100m into the club from the off in an attempt to get things back on track in S6, with that figure being mooted as what it would take to get Hillsborough, the Middlewood Road training ground and the playing squad to a more suitable level.
Time is of the essence, too, with it being understood that the Owls’ academy is on the brink of dropping to Category 3 from Category 2. Investment is required to stop that from happening, and the club are obviously not in a position to do that at this point in time – only a new owner with deep pockets would be able to fix it.
Meanwhile, on top of the reported interest from Ashley and David Storch, The Star understands that Danish billionaire, Anders Holch Povlsen, is considering whether to return to the fold now that it will likely take between £10-£20m to buy the club rather than £35m+.
As has been reported elsewhere, its thought that somebody like Ashley would have no problems with the English Football League’s vetting process, with insiders suggesting that he could get the green light possibly as soon as ‘a couple of weeks’ if things went well.
What is for certain is that Wednesday cannot afford another situation like what was seen with Dejphon Chansiri or the Bord consortium. The administrators have confirmed that the club will be fine until the end of the season, but the pot isn’t endless and there needs to be some finalisation to the matter in the near future.
So a new owner who will run out of money before setting things right should be out of the question, as should anyone who might prolong this process even further.
Should somebody – as expected – buy Wednesday for less than the amount required to pay the creditors 25p on the pound, then the expectation is that they will begin next season on -15 points. It has been suggested, though, that there could be ways to try and avoid that, one of which could rely on the leniency of the EFL.
The argument that any businessperson will have now is that they could rather save money on the club purchase and invest that money into places at the club that need it, and if they feel there’s wiggle room with the deduction then that – and putting less money in Chansiri’s pocket – becomes even more appealing.