Sheffield Wednesday's James Bord warning stems from Sheffield United transfer update | OneFootball

A transfer update involving Sheffield United offers a warning about what might be ahead for Sheffield Wednesday under potential new owner James Bord.

Sheffield Wednesday could soon be under new ownership after James Bord was named as the preferred bidder for the club.

Wednesday have been on the market since former owner Dejphon Chansiri put the club and the company through which he owned the stadium into administration in late October, which brought his decade-long tenure at Hillsborough to an end.

After the interested parties were whittled down, former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and American businessman David Storch were said to be among the final candidates in the frame, but it was revealed that Bord had been selected as the preferred bidder by the club's administrators on Christmas Eve.

Bord currently has stakes in Scottish side Dunfermline Athletic, Spanish club Cordoba and Bulgarian outfit Septemvri Sofia, so he certainly has plenty of experience of running football clubs under his belt, but it is fair to say that the decision to grant him preferred bidder status has not gone down particularly well with some Owls supporters.

That is mainly due to Bord's links with Wednesday's Steel City rivals Sheffield United, for whom he previously served as a recruitment advisor, and recent transfer developments at Bramall Lane will only heighten concerns about the former poker player.

Bord was brought in as a recruitment consultant by Sheffield United owners COH Sports shortly after their takeover last December, and his influence at Bramall Lane was clear for all to see.

The Blades' hierarchy were keen to use Bord's AI model to help inform their transfer activity, and disagreements over the data-driven approach are believed to have been a major factor in the departure of manager Chris Wilder in the summer, just weeks after his side lost to Sunderland in the play-off final.

Not only did Bord have a hand in the recruitment of players, but he is also thought to have recommended Ruben Selles as Wilder's replacement, and that advice certainly backfired on United, with the Spaniard being dismissed in September after losing all of his six games in charge in all competitions.

It is fair to say that Bord's signings did not fare much better, and one of his additions, Jefferson Cacares, made a permanent move to Dunfermline in the summer after just six months at Bramall Lane, during which he failed to make a single appearance.

With Wilder now back at the helm, he has made it clear that he is keen to make changes to his squad in January, and according to The Star, defender Mihail Polendakov, midfielder Alex Matos and wingers Christian Nwachukwu and Ehije Ukaki will all be allowed to leave the club this month.

While there are some question marks over whether Matos was a Bord signing, there is no doubt that the deals for Polendakov, Nwachukwu and Ukaki were pushed by the Blades' former advisor, and as they have made a combined total of just one appearance for the club, it is little surprise that they have been made available for transfer.

Sheffield Wednesday supporters will have big James Bord concern after Sheffield United nightmare

As Bord was only an advisor at Sheffield United, rather than officially owning the club, it would have been difficult for him to properly implement his AI model at Bramall Lane.

Bord has previously worked for Tony Bloom and Matthew Benham, who have enjoyed great success with their data-led recruitment models at Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford over the years, so if he can develop a similar approach to that of his mentors, exciting times could be ahead for Wednesday under his ownership.

However, all the signings Bord made for the Blades have proven to be complete disasters, which is underlined by Wilder's desire to move them on this month, and Owls supporters will be fearing that he could replicate those mistakes if he takes over at Hillsborough.

It is not just the potential transfer activity that is worrying the Wednesday faithful when it comes to Bord, and the fact that the EFL's approval process is expected to be a lengthy one as they scrutinise his source of funding has done little to ease the anxiety over him being chosen as the preferred bidder.

There was, at least, some further information provided about members of Bord's consortium this week, with Felix Roemer and Alsharif Faisal Bin Jamil named as two of the other individuals involved, but there is still plenty of information yet to be revealed, and Owls fans have many questions that will need to be answered.

With no decision from the EFL expected for at least a few weeks, the wait to find out whether Bord will be the next owner of Wednesday is set to continue, and as their Steel City neighbours attempt to ship out the remainder of his transfer flops, some supporters may be hoping that he is not given the green light.