Milan Mandaric could be Sheffield Wednesday's best hope to force Dejphon Chansiri sale | OneFootball

Former Sheffield Wednesday owner Milan Mandaric could be the perfect candidate to save the club from Dejphon Chansiri.

As the club's off-field problems continue, the need for a takeover at Sheffield Wednesday is becoming increasingly apparent.

Wednesday finished in a respectable 12th place in the Championship last season, but it has been a nightmare start to the summer for the South Yorkshire outfit, and their situation is becoming increasingly desperate.

After failing to pay the wages of players and staff for the second time in three months in May, both the Owls and owner Dejphon Chansiri were charged by the EFL, and with some still waiting to receive the money they are owed almost a month after it was initially due, the club remain under a transfer embargo.

The embargo will be lifted once the outstanding salaries are paid, but the saga will have long-term consequences for Wednesday as they have also been hit with a three-window transfer ban, and their appeal against the sanction looks highly unlikely to be successful.

If the financial problems were not enough for the Owls, there have also been delays to the completion of renovation work on the training ground, while they have no pre-season friendlies in place as things stand, and manager Danny Rohl is not expected to be present when the players return for testing on Thursday amid ongoing uncertainty over his future.

Sheffield Wednesday takeover interest provides a glimmer of hope for supporters

The situation at Hillsborough is undoubtedly bleak for Wednesday supporters, and some fear that they may not even be able to start the new season, but amid the doom and gloom, there is one big reason to be hopeful for the future.

It remains to be seen whether Chansiri would be willing to sell, but it is clear that the Owls remain an attractive proposition to potential buyers despite their current state, with at least three parties known to hold an interest in buying the club.

Businessman Adam Shaw has been in discussions with Chansiri about a potential takeover for the last two years, and his US-based consortium have had offers of €65 million and €75 million rejected in recent months.

Former owner Milan Mandaric, who sold Wednesday to Chansiri for £37.5 million back in January 2015, has revealed that he is flying to the UK this week to explore a possible takeover bid that would help to "rescue" the club, and he warned Chansiri that "he is going to destroy the club unless he lets new people like me get involved".

Another possible buyer emerged on Monday night, with The Star reporting that Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor, who agreed to sell his 43% stake in the Eagles to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson for £190 million this week, is considering making a bid to purchase the Owls, but they are not believed to be the only English club on the American billionaire's radar.

The strong level of interest in the club does at least provide some hope to supporters that there may be an end in sight to Chansiri's tenure, but of the three prospective new owners, Mandaric may be the only one with a realistic chance of completing a deal.

Sheffield Wednesday supporters will hope Milan Mandaric can repeat previous rescue act

When Mandaric sold Wednesday to Chansiri in 2015, he felt he had taken the club as far as he could and lacked the financial power to fund a serious Premier League promotion push, but he left on incredibly strong terms with supporters.

After the Owls fell into financial difficulty, Mandaric bought the club for just £1 in December 2010, and he agreed deals with creditors to wipe out their £30 million debt.

Wednesday had been relegated to League One shortly before Mandaric's arrival, but he had established them back in the Championship by the time of his departure, overseeing year-on-year progress in every season during his tenure.

Mandaric is now 86 years of age, so he may not necessarily be a long-term owner for the Owls if he does get his hands on the club again, but there could be no more experienced or popular figure to save them from their current predicament.

While Shaw's consortium and Textor may have greater financial resources or more ambitious plans for Wednesday, the fact that Mandaric has struck a deal with Chansiri previously could give him a big advantage in the race to buy the club.

Chansiri is known to be a notoriously difficult individual to negotiate with, and an intermediary involved in trying to facilitate a takeover of the Owls recently revealed that the Thai businessman values the club at over £100 million, while he also claimed that he previously turned down an offer of £160 million.

That asking price is likely to immediately deter many prospective buyers, but given his previous relationship with Chansiri, Mandaric could be the man to convince him to lower his demands, and if he succeeds in completing a takeover of Wednesday, his legacy at Hillsborough would be assured forever.