Why Sheffield Wednesday is an attractive club to takeover - There are 3 obvious reasons | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday are attracting interest from potential buyers as fans look for Dejphon Chansiri to sell the club.

Sheffield Wednesday supporters will be hoping the Dejphon Chansiri era will be over this summer as they keep their fingers crossed that a takeover will be completed.

Whilst Chansiri did initially bring optimism and excitement to Hillsborough after he bought the club, with plenty of investment following, the past few years have been very difficult for all connected to the Owls.

A lot of that has been down to mismanagement by Chansiri, with the latest example of that coming last week, as the club were hit with transfer restrictions for the next three windows, after failing to pay staff wages on time.

4 Sheffield Wednesday supporters will be hoping for a takeover ASAP

Owls supporters have been protesting over the Thai businessman's stewardship of their club for some time, but nothing has been finalised yet in terms of Chansiri selling the club, although there is interest from prospective buyers, including a consortium involving Adam Shaw.

It will be frustrating for Wednesday fans to see other EFL clubs secure fresh investment, particularly as they know how transformative it could be for the club and the city.

Here we outline THREE reasons why Sheffield Wednesday remains an attractive option to investors…

3 Sheffield Wednesday have a proud history

Firstly, Wednesday is a big name in English football, so it’s natural that people would want to be associated with a club like that.

Wednesday have won four top division titles, the FA Cup on three occasions and have been runners-up the same number of times, a League Cup and Community Shield win, as well as playing in their iconic Hillsborough Stadium.

Some will point out that those trophies were a long time ago, but it shows that the Owls have made their mark in English football.

The challenge for whoever does come in, will be to try and replicate that further down the line.

2

Perhaps more importantly in terms of the here and now, there’s plenty of room for improvement at Wednesday.

The size of the fanbase is huge and unwaveringly loyal, and, in the modern game, buyers will see that potential and know that Wednesday has the potential to grow commercially.

Initially, it will have to be in the UK, and then eventually overseas too.

There are a host of examples, particularly in the Premier League with clubs such as Brighton, Brentford, Burnley and Bournemouth respectively, who with ambitious and caring owners, have seen their respective clubs - all with smaller fanbases than Wednesday have - enjoy huge growth and success in English football's top flight in recent years.

That can be rectified at Hillsborough, and unlike some of their rivals, the ceiling for Wednesday seems a long way away.

1

It has been claimed that Chansiri has previously turned down bids of up to £160m for Wednesday, which is undoubtedly a very high price when you consider what other Championship clubs have been sold for, such as West Brom, who were bought by Shilen Patel for £60m.

Yet, with John Textor selling his stake of 44.99% in Crystal Palace for £190m, you see just how much promotion to the Premier League can change the value of a club.

The Star have recently claimed that they've seen evidence from an intermediary who has been trying over the previous few weeks to push through a takeover of Sheffield Wednesday, that prospective owners see the club as having a "fair market value" of between £40-50m.

So, if someone does buy Wednesday and takes them to the Premier League, the value will increase substantially - and that’s going to appeal to buyers.