Sheffield Wednesday takeover news: Mike Ashley setback, EFL stance on merger, Simon Jordan explains U-turn | OneFootball

FLW rounds up the latest set of takeover developments at Hillsborough

The search for Sheffield Wednesday's latest owner(s) has continued into the final days of November, a month on from when the Owls were initially placed into administration by former chairman, Dejphon Chansiri.

The Steel City side have been the subject of numerous headlines and talking points on the takeover front for many weeks and months now, although the current group of administrators, Begbies Traynor - fronted by Paul Stanley, Julian Pitts and Kris Wigfield - are hopeful that a swift conclusion to a long-standing search can be made between now and the end of the calendar year.

On the pitch, Henrik Pedersen's side remain at the foot of the Championship table after being hit with an automatic 12-point deduction for entering administration on October 24th, with the Owls suffering a 1-0 defeat against play-off chasing Millwall at The Den on Wednesday night.

Next up is a return to Hillsborough, where they will face off against Preston North End on Saturday afternoon, in what is the final encounter before the widely reported deadline of December 5th, by which Stanley, Pitts and Wigfield are hoping to reveal the identity of Wednesday's permanent new owner.

However, there have been some remarkable twists in the tale during the past 48 hours or so, and Football League World has rounded up those key talking points.

Mike Ashley submits unsuccessful £20m bid in Sheffield Wednesday takeover race

One of the most prominent figures involved in takeover talks at Hillsborough has been former Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley.

The 61-year-old was reportedly identified as one of the 'final three' candidates for the role and was claimed to have been preparing a bid as low as £10m at the start of the month due to no fears over the source of the funding he could provide.

It was then reported on Wednesday that the Walsall-born businessman, whose last official link to football saw him sell the CBS Arena to Coventry City for just short of £40m in August, had made an official £20m bid in an attempt to front the bidding queue in S6.

However, Rob Dorsett of Sky Sports has since revealed that Ashley's aforementioned bid was unsuccessful, with three rival parties offering at least £30m, although the ex-Newcastle chairman could increase his own figures ahead of next week's planned date for exclusivity.

Likely EFL stance revealed amid controversial Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United merger talk

Less than seven days ago, Wednesday suffered a bruising 3-0 defeat to Sheffield United in the Steel City derby at Hillsborough courtesy of a Tyrese Campbell double and Tom Cannon's late strike.

However, that hasn't been the main talking point between supporters of the cross-city rivals throughout the week, with the Telegraph reporting on Tuesday that representatives of the Blades' American ownership group, COH Sports, had made inquiries over the possibility of joining the bidding war.

Such developments themselves raised plenty of question marks, before it was later reported that one of the several interested parties had even put forward the concept of merging the two sides, who have struggled for form in the early weeks of this season's Championship.

Unsurprisingly, this has sparked even more outrage and discourse, although the aforementioned Dorsett was quick to reassure supporters at both Hillsborough and Bramall Lane that such a controversial set of circumstances wouldn't be ratified by the club's governing body, the EFL and the newly-founded Independent Football Regulator.

“Been made clear to me that neither the EFL nor the new Football Regulator would countenance the idea of Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday merging, whether or not this email of enquiry from United’s owners is legitimate. SWFC administrators focussing on more credible bids from elsewhere," he said.

One of several pundits who has continuously spoken about the bleak situation at Hillsborough is talkSPORT's Simon Jordan, who previously held the position of Crystal Palace chairman between 2000 and 2010.

Whilst the identity of the consortium and other names involved are yet to be revealed, the 58-year-old revealed on the station's mid-morning 'White and Jordan' show, alongside ex-Sky Sports presenter, Jim White, that he was part of one which had looked into salvaging the Owls from the brink.

"You know, because I spoke to you about it, I put together a consortium of people, very well-hilled people and proved up the £50m to have a look at Sheffield Wednesday," he told White.

"It's a club I've always advocated for, because I think it's a big club waiting to happen again if it had proper ownership, proper direction and proper disciplines around building it back as a football club. But, it is massively challenged.

"The reason why I decided not to go forward with it, is because I don't like the idea of rewarding Chansiri by having to pay huge parts of the money that he has to get to avoid the EFL regulations of being sanctioned again," he stated.

"If you don't pay at least 25p in the pound, then you get another 15-point penalty," Jordan explained. "I would be quite happy to have the ownership of Sheffield Wednesday and have the 15-point penalty this season - because it makes no difference, and you're going to get relegated - and not have it next year.