What Blades boss Ruben Selles has said about Sheffield Wednesday's situation | OneFootball

The newly appointed Unitedite is putting the Steel City derby to one side at this point in time.

Ruben Selles has admitted that he has "sympathy" for those at Sheffield Wednesday that have been affected by the club's ongoing financial turmoil.

Wednesday's 2025/26 campaign is supposed to get started on Sunday against former Premier League winners Leicester City, who have just been relegated from the top flight. The Owls' final planned pre-season contest against newly promoted Burnley was cancelled after the players, many of whom haven't been paid in months, refused to play.

Their preparations for the upcoming term have been massively hindered by the fiscal issues at Hillsborough, which have been caused by the inability of chairman Dejphon Chansiri to provide the club with the requisite funds.

The non-payment of wages is a stark situation on its own, but it has subsequently caused Wednesday to receive embargoes - although those that pertain to salaries have now been lifted - and a transfer ban that runs until 2027. Players have had to be sold on the cheap and a number of the club's coaching staff have left.

Ruben Selles reveals "sympathy" for Sheffield Wednesday situation

Even the most bitter, red-tinted glasses-wearer can look at the situation across from them in the Steel City and admit that it's a horrible situation for the players, the staff and the supporters of their rivals. Their new boss has certainly taken that view.

Speaking in an interview with talkSPORT, Selles admitted that he feels for those that have been negatively impacted by the turmoil that Wednesday finds themselves in.

"When it comes to people suffering and people losing their jobs and not getting paid on time and the uncertainty of the situation ... nobody wants that situation for their neighbour," the Spaniard stated.

"Even though it's a rivalry in the city. It's always a difficult situation and it's difficult to understand. They have my sympathy. I don't think it's good for football, or anybody."

Owls legend Barry Bannan also appeared on the national radio station on Tuesday, following the announcement of his new deal with the club. He revealed that he hadn't heard anything from Chansiri in months, but that him and his teammates had no plans to go on strike as the new season approaches.

Ruben Selles is a brilliant example of footballing unity in a time of crisis for his rivals

Some football supporters can be over the top, hyperbolic and irrational, especially in modern times, but the situation at Hillsborough filters the blindly tribal from the reasonable.

Selles, despite being the manager of Wednesday's rivals, and being the successor to Chris Wilder - a Blades supporter who very, very publicly enjoyed his side's two victories over the Owls last season - is seeing this for what it is: a travesty for English football.

Too many times in recent years we have seen clubs like Wednesday begin to sink because of pure mismanagement from their owners, and the effect it has on the innocent people who are involved with the club can be extremely damaging.

It doesn't matter where your allegiances lie, as Selles has clearly shown: the mess that is Sheffield Wednesday stretches beyond rivalries and banter. This is a genuine financial crisis at a club where many of its staff have not been paid properly in months. That is a universally horrible state of affairs.