£100m Sheffield Wednesday warning that Leicester City’s owners be wary of | OneFootball

Leicester City's owners have to avoid the same mistakes Dejphon Chansiri made at Sheffield Wednesday as they target sale of the Foxes

Leicester City’s owners King Power have put the club up for sale after 16 years in charge of the club.

But the Thai group must look to Dejphon Chansiri’s situation at Sheffield Wednesday just last year if they are to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

The Foxes won the Premier League and the FA Cup under the current ownership, so they will always have a level of goodwill from fans that Chansiri simply never had at Hillsborough.

But their mismanagement of the team both on and off the pitch has left them in a difficult financial and competitive position, with Russell Martin now leading the side in League One.

Dejphon Chansiri’s unrealistic Sheffield Wednesday demands

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Chansiri was a wildly unpopular figure as Sheffield Wednesday owner, and he eventually led the club into administration almost 12 months ago.

But in the months leading up to that, the Thai businessman had interest from a number of parties to buy the Owls, as the issues behind the scenes mounted.

However, an asking price of £100 million proved a major stumbling block towards completing a deal.

The likes of Mike Ashley, John Textor and David Richards were all interested in potentially buying the club, but none of them considered a deal at this figure.

Dejphon Chansiri lost out massively at Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday ultimately went into administration by October 2025, which really hindered how much Chansiri could earn from their sale.

The ex-Owls owner was still in line to receive around £15 million due to being owed a total of £60 million as part of the club’s debt.

In order for the Yorkshire outfit to leave administration, administrators Begbies Traynor were hired to seek a buyer that could pay all of the team’s creditors to the tune of 25p on the pound.

But Chansiri eventually walked away from the club with nothing after he failed to reply to an offer that would see him earn that money on the basis of Sheffield Wednesday’s promotion to the Championship.

Leicester City owners must avoid £200m mistake

It’s been reported that King Power have set an asking price of £200 million after putting the club up for sale earlier this year.

But it’s difficult to foresee any party stepping up and meeting that demand with the club now competing in League One.

The Foxes’ debt is also a concern, and will be another factor that puts off potential buyers at this price point.

And while the immediate threat of administration isn’t apparent, the owners must act rationally now in order to avoid that possibility in the future, as they could end up with nothing just like Chansiri.

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Leicester City are an attractive asset at the right price

Leicester are former Premier League winners, and were competing in European competition as recently as just four years ago.

This is a club with an immense amount of potential, and it should have a number of potential buyers lining up to take over, provided the cost of a deal remains reasonable.

Running a football team is an expensive business, and Leicester’s relegation to the third tier means that a lot of investment is now needed to get the side back to the top level of English football.