Mike Ashley takeover at Sheffield Wednesday? 2 issues he instantly faces | OneFootball

Football League World looks at two immediate issues Mike Ashley will face if he seals a takeover of Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday's ongoing takeover saga is continuing to drag out more than three months after the club entered administration back in October, which paved the way for Dejphon Chansiri's long-awaited departure from Hillsborough but cast further doubt and uncertainty regarding the club's immediate future.

The already-relegated Owls have been overseen by Begbies Traynor ever since, with the administrative group continuing to search for fresh ownership to direct a new era for the South Yorkshire outfit.

That's not happened quite just yet, and though no shortage of names have been linked with various extents of interest and intent to the possibility of purchasing Wednesday, they remain in pursuit of a takeover.

The name of former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is one that has never appeared to go away, mind you, with the 61-year-old having been interested in completing a takeover before preferred bidder status was granted to James Bord's consortium in December.

However, with that deal since collapsing, Ashley is re-emerging as a top contender to take over the Owls and it has been claimed by John Percy of the Telegraph that the businessman is poised to return with a revised bid in the next 24 hours after submitting a previous £20 million offer last November.

As Ashley continues to amplify his takeover efforts, then, Football League World has decided to take a look at two pressing issues that will present themselves if and when he completes a full purchase of the Championship strugglers...

2 ? ? Renovating Hillsborough and Sheffield Wednesday's training ground

One critical issue that requires sorting as soon as Sheffield Wednesday comes under new ownership is the club's iconic Hillsborough stadium, of which renovation is currently proving impossible owing to the cash-strapped Owls' financial situation.

The economic pockets among Begbies Traynor simply aren't deep enough and the group are only keeping Wednesday afloat until a new owner is brought in, and Ashley will be expected to provide the requisite investment.

Hillsborough has been in dire need of serious work for some time, with the North Stand a notable point of concern among supporters over the last year or so.

It was telling when, earlier this week, ex-Owls striker Lee Gregory revealed in an interview with The Football League Paper that he believes both Hillsborough and the club's Middlewood training ground need to be knocked down.

Gregory, who left the Owls in June 2024 following 29 goals from 101 appearances in blue and white, declared both bases as "awful". He explained: "When you talk about what’s needed, it’s literally everything. The stadium is awful. The training ground is awful.

"For a club that big, which has played in the Premier League, the state of the place has to be seen to be believed. And that’s coming from someone who played in non-league."

“Don’t get me wrong, Hillsborough is an incredible place when it’s bouncing. I played in the 5-1 win against Peterborough, when we came from 4-0 down in the second-leg of the play-off semis, and I’ve never felt an atmosphere like it. It was amazing that night.

"But it’s been left to rot for years. When you look at it objectively - and I hate to say this - the whole thing needs knocking down and starting again. Same with the training ground. And how many people have the money to do that?"

Ashley, it must be said, may well be the prospective buyer with that level of capital, with reports indicating that he's willing to invest up to £100 million at Wednesday in an effort to solve the club's myriad issues away from the field.

He'll need to put his money where his mouth is, though, and starting renovation work on Hillsborough in particular is a key call of duty to undertake if a deal can edge towards completion.

1 ? ? Revamp the Sheffield Wednesday playing squad

A return to League One beckons for Sheffield Wednesday after they became the earliest team to suffer relegation in English Football League history last month, and while simply steadying the ship from an ownership and financial perspective before dreaming of a rise back up the divisions is what may just be on Ashley's mind as he continues to plot his takeover, there's no getting away from the fact that the squad at Henrik Pedersen's disposal also requires major work ahead of life back in the third-tier.

It's a depleted, paper-thin squad that has been brutally decimated and ripped apart in recent times, with the likes of legendary midfield captain Barry Bannan, young prospect Bailey Cadamarteri, talented winger Djeidi Gassama and experienced heroes behind the Owls' return to the Championship in Callum Paterson and Josh Windass among those to have moved on amid the crisis that has played out in this corner of the Steel City.

What that created, alongside a litany of EFL-imposed points deductions, was a situation where it was impossible for Pedersen to ever guide the side to survival following last season's respectable mid-table finish under Danny Rohl, whose own departure to Rangers before poaching Hillsborough favourite Gassama has been sorely-felt.

Instead, the Owls have found themselves reliant on a glut of unproven academy prospects thrown into the deep end to simply make up bodies, fighting desperately to prove their worth in senior football irrespective of readiness and the scale of the situation at hand, alongside numerous loan acquisitions late on in the January window.

There's just about enough players to fill a team right now, and with no fewer than five first-team operators set to be out of contract this summer, Wednesday's squad could be a sorrier state of affairs next term without action.

Ashley would need to make a decision on the futures of Liam Cooper, Dom Iorfa, Max and Jamal Lowe and Marvelous Nakamba while also attempting to retain as many players as possible once the summer rolls around.

Fresh blood is required too, of course, and part of Ashley's aforementioned £100 million commitment is said to entail the addressing of the playing squad, which needs to be readied and bolstered in preparation for League One and beyond.