What Henrik Pedersen has said about new Sheffield Wednesday takeover update | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen has shared his reaction to prospective new owner David Storch's latest comments.

Sheffield Wednesday are moving closer to securing new ownership, but it is set to be a crucial few weeks as Arise Capital Partners look to complete a takeover of the club.

Almost six months on from former owner Dejphon Chansiri's exit, Wednesday remain in administration, and it has been a nightmare season on the pitch for the South Yorkshire outfit, who suffered the earliest relegation in English football history when their fate was confirmed in February.

Arise were named as the new preferred bidder for the Owls last month, but with the consortium unwilling to meet the EFL's 25p in the pound rule, which would have seen Chansiri receive around £15 million, it has long been speculated that the club could be hit with a 15-point deduction in League One next season.

That was confirmed this week when David Storch, who is leading Arise's takeover bid, revealed on social media that the EFL are planning to impose the sanction, but he made it clear that he and his business partners are unhappy with the situation, insisting that it is something they "fundamentally disagree" with.

One way that Wednesday could avoid a 15-point penalty next season is if Chansiri agrees to restructure his portion of the club's debt, but Storch claimed that attempts to reach out to the Thai businessman had so far gone "unanswered".

However, it seems Chansiri may now be open to striking a deal, with journalist Alan Nixon reporting that the ex-Owls chief, who is said to be hoping to bank around £2 million from the sale, is willing to hold talks with Arise and their legal advisors.

Henrik Pedersen reacts to fresh David Storch, Sheffield Wednesday takeover developments

Despite winning just one of his 46 games in charge so far, it was recently confirmed that Pedersen was set to remain in charge of Wednesday next season if Arise completes their takeover, and the Dane offered his backing to Storch after his strong social media statement.

After all the turmoil the club has faced this campaign, Pedersen admitted that he believes it would be unfair to hit the Owls with any further punishments next season, but he stressed that he is confident he will be able to put a competitive squad together for League One, regardless of the restrictions he may have to work under.

"First of all, I support David a lot for the statement - and of course from a manager's perspective I would rather have zero than minus 15 points," Pedersen told The Star.

"For the recruitment, I think Sheffield Wednesday is still a big, big club and many, many players would love to be a part of Sheffield Wednesday in the future, but of course we are not in the first, second or third row when we have to choose players.

"We have to work hard, but I think with the football we're playing, how we integrate young players and how we work with the human behind the football player, we are attractive address for the future and I'm sure we will put a very, very strong squad together for the coming season.

"I know that David and his team are working very, very hard to do all what they can and do all the best they can for Sheffield Wednesday and I cannot say now how long things take. I know they do everything to solve it before the end of the season and yeah, they do everything."

"With David and his people, it's so positive and if we have the big picture and we have the right light for the future, then we can go through anything. And then the minus 15 point, of course, we'll also handle this," Pedersen added.

"But in the bigger perspective, as I said before, I understand the statement from David and I think that everyone has suffered enough this season. We all just want to look forward and start to work for the project forward and use all our energy for this. And of course, I hope there comes a reasonable solution for the future."

Sheffield Wednesday fans will have Dejphon Chansiri hope amid David Storch takeover hurdle

Given the chaos Chansiri caused during the disastrous final months of his tenure at Hillsborough, Wednesday supporters will be frustrated that their former owner is still proving to be an obstacle to a takeover, even though he is no longer in control.

Having so far refused to engage with Arise, it looked unlikely that Chansiri would be willing to help the Owls, but recent reports that he may now be open to negotiations provide a small glimmer of hope that a damaging 15-point deduction could be avoided next season.

After a nightmare period, few would disagree with Pedersen's view that Wednesday have already had enough punishment, but further sanctions could be on the cards if Arise are unable to reach a deal with Chansiri.