Exclusive: Don Goodman reacts to 'exciting' Sheffield Wednesday takeover news as European group plot bid | OneFootball

One of Sheffield Wednesday’s potential bidders wants to emulate the work of a top European side

One group of potential Sheffield Wednesday investors want to turn the club into a hotbed for emerging talent.

The European-based group, as reported by journalist Alan Nixon via his Patreon account, are keen to use FC Midtjylland as an example for the project they want to kick off at Hillsborough Stadium.

The Danish side have a strong reputation for developing emerging talent and were, until 2023, under the control of highly-regarded Brentford owner Matthew Benham.

We asked Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman whether this would be a good next step for the Owls.

Sheffield Wednesday as a development club must come with a long-term plan

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Goodman said: “Look, I think Sheffield Wednesday is just such a huge, huge football club.

“And it's going be a huge, huge football club that is probably going to end up in League One.

“And so for that reason, that kind of a model, a platform to showcase rising talent, would work, but there needs to come a point in the future where the owners are ambitious enough to want Sheffield Wednesday to become an established Premier League club.

“It has that potential, but it needs a lot of TLC, and it needs investment, and it needs a transfer model that is similar to Brighton's or Brentford's or Bournemouth's that works.

“So exciting, absolutely. But it must be with the aim of getting Sheffield Wednesday to the top of English football.”

Henrik Pedersen is already building the platform

Should this be a route new owners take Wednesday down, then in Pedersen they’ve already got a manager who has kickstarted the project for them.

Amid the chaos of administration, 18-year-old Manchester United loanee Harry Amass is thriving at the club, starting 11 of the club’s 15 games so far this season, and notching his first goal recently against Southampton.

Having struggled for game time with the Reds, his promising performances in difficult circumstances will already have aided his development and raised his valued, and the left-back seems keen to stay in Yorkshire for the season.

There has also been game time in the Carabao Cup for rising Owls star Yisa Alao, who aged just 16 years old received praise from Barry Bannan for his contribution to the senior side; another case study on Wednesday being a great development spot for young talent.

Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth should be the long-term model

With the club prevented from paying a transfer fee for players until midway through the 2026/27 season, any new owners are going to have to get creative to generate revenue and stay competitive.

Becoming a platform for talent who perhaps haven’t quite made it to the top level is one way to do that, but, as Goodman states, a club the size of Wednesday should have ambitions higher than simply being a feeder club for the likes of the Premier League.

As the pundit states, Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth are the clear models to follow, having turned Football League regulars into competitive top-tier clubs.

They did that mainly through smart recruitment, but it certainly hasn’t been on the cheap, with all three having received significant investment.

This European-based group’s plan for Wednesday is exciting in the short to medium term, but it must be coupled with a much longer-term vision.