"There certainly have been bids" - Finance expert drops Sheffield Wednesday, Dejphon Chansiri takeover claim | OneFootball

Kieran Maguire has weighed in on the latest surrounding Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday’s nightmare summer appears to be going from bad to worse.

June 30 marked the second time in three months that the club’s playing staff weren’t paid on time, as per The Star.

Wednesday are expected to be referred by the EFL to an independent commission, according to The Guardian. They have already been hit with a three-window transfer ban and two embargoes by the EFL for non-payment of players and failure to pay HMRC on time.

The Guardian have also revealed that the Owls could suffer an even longer transfer embargo, potential fines and/or points deductions as a result of their wrongdoings.

Club chairman Dejphon Chansiri is under mounting pressure to find the money needed to keep Wednesday operating. The figure stands, as reported by Alan Nixon last week, at £5 million.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has provided his view on the situation, where things have gone wrong for Wednesday and if the future has any sort of optimism in it for the Hillsborough faithful.

Kieran Maguire weighs in on latest Sheffield Wednesday news

“The Championship next season is going to be incredibly competitive,” commented Maguire to Benjamin Bloom on YouTube. “And it's difficult to see Sheffield Wednesday, under the present regime, having anything other than a bottom three wage budget.

“As far as their recruitment of signing players is concerned, the position of the EFL is that the other clubs in the Championship have paid their wages on time, the other clubs have paid HMRC on time.

“I don’t think Chansiri is trying to antagonise Sheffield Wednesday fans. I think he's very naive, I think he's very inexperienced, I don't think he's trusted people, I don't think he's put people into the right place in the club, which has allowed the potential of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club to be leveraged to being a more successful team.”

Maguire does believe however, that a change in ownership could very quickly turn the atmosphere around at Hillsborough.

“Football is an emotional industry, and you can get fairly positive vibes very, very quickly,” explained the finance expert. “You've only got to look at what's happened at Birmingham City. Birmingham had a poor owner, and on the back of that, they got relegated to League One.

“But everybody I know who's a Blue is bouncing. They're an excitable bunch at the moment, aren't they? Yes, and as a football romantic, you've got to be really pleased for them.

“So things can turn around if you create the right environment, if you get a good start to the season, and so on. But I think it is going to be very difficult. We don't know what the reaction of the EFL will be to prospective new owners coming in.”

There have been bids to end Chansiri’s tenure as Wednesday owner, but none have come to fruition yet.

An American consortium have made the strongest push to take over the Owls. One of its co-leaders, Sheffield-born Adam Shaw, told The Athletic that they were for £48 million and £55 million.

Chansiri later refuted this, claiming they had initially offered just shy of £30 million plus future performance-based add-ons, and then £40 million with similar future add-ons, subsequently rejecting both bids.

“There certainly have been bids,” admitted Maguire. “Those bids have not matched the valuation of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club that Dejphon Chansiri has given. I've done my own sums.

“I think there's a significant gap between the figures that he apparently is quoting and what's being offered. I think the first offers that I've seen come in, which I think were probably in the region, just over £40 million.

“I don't think that's a million miles off what the club is probably worth, given that you are inheriting Hillsborough, which is a mess, which has suffered from lack of TLC, a lack of investment for many, many years, and needs a significant spruce up.

“Going back to Birmingham City and their new owners, they seem really keen to invest in the infrastructure there. So it can be done. But timing in football was just as important as timing in politics and timing in comedy, and times aren't good at present for Wednesday”

Sheffield Wednesday sale could be the start of a resurgence at Hillsborough

At this moment time, there will be no signs of light for the Sheffield Wednesday supporters.

Players will soon be able to walk away from the club for free and with the end of this nightmare not in sight, next season is beginning to look increasingly difficult for the Owls.

With Danny Rohl’s departure, Wednesday will need to somehow convince a manager to lead them forward next term after a summer of no spending, potentially following a mass exodus of the club’s current crop.

The task of keeping the Steel City side in the Championship next term seems almost impossible, especially with the promoted clubs from League One possessing such ambitious owners who will be aiming to fight at the sharp end of the second-tier.

However, if Chansiri does sell up, there will be a renewed optimism around Hillsborough that things can only get better.

The fans may potentially accept the cruel season they will have to endure in the short term, with the overall view that they may once more have their club back in capable hands.

As a result, a change in ownership this summer could provide a shot of enthusiasm for a fanbase that has lacked any sort of positivity in recent times.