Mike Ashley 'monitoring' Sheffield Wednesday takeover situation as journalist drops update | OneFootball

The ex-Newcastle United owner has been heavily linked with a Hillsborough takeover

Former Newcastle United chairman Mike Ashley is continuing to monitor the dire situation at Sheffield Wednesday - one which has only worsened in the past 24 hours for all associated with the club.

Alan Biggs, who previously indicated the ex-Magpies' custodian's interest in taking over the cash-strapped Championship side, has revealed that this remains the case amid reports that Wednesday are just days away from being served with a winding-up petition from His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) as current owner, Dejphon Chansiri, is still yet to pay an outstanding tax bill which is believed to be at a cost of £1m.

It is the latest damning indictment in a series of controversial and alarming events at Hillsborough which have rumbled on since March, when senior members of Danny Rohl's squad - at the time - along with management and general club staff, had not received their wages for the month in adequate time - a predicament which has continued in five of the following seven months.

Various sanctions such as five transfer and restriction-related embargoes and a transfer fee restriction until at least 2027 have also been imposed by the EFL in recent weeks and months, resulting in a mass exodus of senior players and the aforementioned Rohl during a pre-season in which the Owls did not feature in front of supporters, leaving current boss, Henrik Pedersen with the seemingly 'impossible task' of preserving the club's second tier status amid fears relating to its very existence.

Many supporters continue to hope that a takeover is in the offing with several high-profile names and parties interested, with Ashley remaining one of those at present.

Ever since those initial Spring rumblings of discontent, talk of Chansiri's 10-year reign in the S6 boardroom reaching a swift conclusion has only heightened.

Throughout the summer, it was revealed that the Thailand-based owner had rejected offers in the region of £30m and £40m to relinquish his control of the South Yorkshire side, with subsequent reports claiming that Chansiri is holding out for approximately £100m.

Many, unsurprisingly, have stated that such a valuation is extremely unrealistic when taking into account the distinct lack of high-valued assets owned by the club.

The likes of ex-Crystal Palace and Lyon stakeholder, John Textor, has been heavily linked with a takeover amid reports that Chansiri could drop his valuation to £70m.

Last week, the American revealed the processes he has gone through in a bid to negotiate a potential deal with Chansiri, with the aforementioned Biggs revealing that Ashley was a name potentially interested in a takeover, and that has very much remained the case according to sources close to the Sheffield-based journalist at the tail end of the October international break.

As previously highlighted, this comes at a time when administration and a winding-up order are looming large in S6 as a tax bill remains unpaid at this moment in time, with the development set to result in an expected points' penalty - which would be the second of Chansiri's tenure, having been hit with a 12-point deduction in 2020/21 for a breach of spending regulations which eventually culminated in relegation to League One.

It remains to be seen exactly when the ongoing crisis at Hillsborough will come to an end, with the nature of the saga, understandably, only increasing the worries of those inside the club in a playing, coaching and administrative sense, as well as the long-suffering supporters who have been left in the dark for some time.

The introduction of the 'Independent Football Regulator' has offered a small glimmer of hope, with newly-appointed chair, David Kogan, revealing his stance on the matter as well as outlining his personal conversations with an array of Owls-themed supporters clubs.

As a result, such circumstances have altered how Wednesday's on-pitch performances have been viewed by those on the inside and outside, as they are currently second-bottom on six points, ironically ahead of their Steel City rivals, Sheffield United by three points.

A three-game unbeaten run, which included a 2-0 success at Portsmouth, did somewhat raise spirits during an extremely worrying time, although the Owls' predicament was ruthlessly exposed by unbeaten league leaders Coventry City last time out.