How much James Bord would need to spend on Sheffield Wednesday player salaries | OneFootball

James Bord will inherit a Sheffield Wednesday wage bill that exceeds £11m-a-year when he completes his deal to buy the club.

Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping that they can look ahead to a brighter future under James Bord, as he looks to complete a deal to buy the club.

The Owls’ issues under former owner Dejphon Chansiri were well-documented, with the Thai businessman leaving Wednesday in a terrible situation due to his mismanagement over the years.

Two points deductions mean relegation to League One is inevitable this season, but at one point there were very real doubts about the future of the club. However, Bord has now been named as the preferred bidder after a lengthy process, and he is now working on finalising the deal.

Sheffield Wednesday player salaries cost ahead of James Bord takeover

Clearly, there is going to be a lot of work for Bord to do in order to turn Sheffield Wednesday around, and nobody will realistically expect a quick fix.

One of his objectives will be to ensure long-term stability, and key to that will be controlling costs - in particular the wages the club pays out.

Whilst we must stress that these are only estimates, Capology estimates that Wednesday has an annual wage bill of £11.5m right now, which works out at £221,450 a week.

Again, these are estimates, but that would be a substantial number for any third tier club, and it’s something that Bord will need to address immediately.

Of course, it could have been a lot worse, as Wednesday are relying on a lot of academy players at the moment, so they are not likely to be commanding the same sort of wages that experienced professionals have had at Hillsborough in the past.

Plus, it’s unclear whether there are clauses in individual contracts that would see their wages drop in the event of relegation.

Another interesting factor is that estimated top earner Barry Bannan, along with Dominic Iorfa, Max Lowe, Jamal Lowe and Liam Cooper are all out of contract in the summer, and they are all listed among the best paid players.

James Bord will have scope to start fresh at Sheffield Wednesday

Therefore, it could be argued that Bord will have something of a blank canvas to really make his mark at Sheffield Wednesday.

We know that he has a background in sports analytics, and it’s evident that a major overhaul will be required in the summer to ensure the Yorkshire outfit are ready to compete for promotion, which has to be the aim for a club like Wednesday.

Yet, the prospective new owner will have to act with a level of responsibility to ensure that Wednesday operates within their means, so it’s about striking the right balance in terms of the players you attract and the wages that are paid.

So, those challenges lie ahead for Bord, and all connected to Wednesday will be hoping that they can get their recruitment right in what will be a massive summer for the club.