Why Dejphon Chansiri might finally be ready to sell Sheffield Wednesday | OneFootball

We looked at some of the reasons why Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri may finally be ready to sell the club.

It has been a turbulent start to the summer for Sheffield Wednesday, but for the first time, it seems there is a realistic chance that owner Dejphon Chansiri may be willing to sell the club.

It was a positive campaign for Wednesday last season as they finished 12th in the Championship, but it has been a nightmare summer so far for the South Yorkshire outfit.

After failing to pay the wages of players and staff on time for the second time in three months in May, both the Owls and Chansiri have been charged by the EFL, and with some still waiting for the money they are owed, the club remain under a transfer embargo.

The embargo will be lifted once the outstanding salaries are paid, but there will be long-term consequences of the saga for Wednesday as they have also been hit with a three-window ban on playing transfer fees, although they are planning to appeal that punishment.

As the Owls' woes continue, interest in buying the club is increasing, and after having two previous offers worth €65 million and €75 million rejected, businessman Adam Shaw appeared to suggest that negotiations between his US-based consortium and the lawyers of the Chansiri family are progressing well, while former owner Milan Mandaric is flying into the UK this week to explore a possible takeover bid.

It was also revealed on Monday night that Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor, who has agreed to sell his stake in the Eagles to New York Jets owner Woody Johnson for £190 million, is weighing up making a move for Wednesday, but they are not thought to be the only English club on his radar.

If any of the interested parties were to agree a deal with Chansiri, it would bring his decade-long tenure at Hillsborough to an end, and we looked at some of the reasons why he may now finally be open to selling the club.

Lack of funds to finance Sheffield Wednesday long-term

Given the way his investment in the transfer market has reduced of late, Wednesday supporters have long suspected that Chansiri does not quite have the same level of funds he used to, and recent events appear to have confirmed those fears.

In October 2023, Chansiri asked supporters to raise £2 million in order to help him pay an outstanding debt to HMRC and cover wages, and when the salaries of players and staff were paid late for the first time in March this year, a cashflow issue was cited as the reason for the delay.

The fact the issue has occurred again less than two months later suggests that Chansiri's financial problems may be more serious than they first appeared, and with some still waiting for their wages to be paid almost a month on from when they were initially due, there are big question marks over how he will continue to meet his obligations to the club.

It was revealed that Chansiri even reached out to some of his business associates in an attempt to raise the funds needed to pay the wages, but that has not brought about a resolution, and if he no longer has the level of finances needed to run the club, he will be left with no choice but to sell.

Increasing Sheffield Wednesday supporter protests

It is fair to say that Chansiri has always had a strained relationship with Wednesday supporters, but discontent towards him has increased significantly in recent years.

Owls supporters initially protested against Chansiri with chants and leaflets, but the demonstrations stepped up a gear last season, and prior to the final home game of the campaign against Portsmouth in April, around 1,000 supporters marched through Hillsborough Park to express their frustration.

That was before all the problems Wednesday have experienced over the summer, so if Chansiri is still in charge of the club at the start of the season, it is fair to assume that the protests will move to another level, which could become increasingly toxic and destructive.

While Chansiri has shown a strong level of resilience to cope with the criticism he has received during the past decade, neither he nor his family will want to be the subject of increasing protests and the negative publicity that will come with it, so he may feel that it is the right time for him to step aside.

When Chansiri first arrived at Hillsborough, he revealed his ambitious target of leading Wednesday back to the Premier League within his first two years of ownership, and he invested heavily in pursuit of that objective, including spending a club-record £10 million on Middlesbrough striker Jordan Rhodes.

In Chansiri's defence, he came agonisingly close to achieving his goal as the Owls were beaten in the play-offs in two consecutive seasons, but since then, it is fair to say that he has lacked any kind of plan or long-term vision for the club.

Chansiri is known to be keen to have full control, but he has long resisted calls to bring anyone with football expertise onto the board, which is increasingly out of kilter with Wednesday's fellow Championship clubs, many of whom have proper structures in place and take a progressive, forward-thinking approach to recruitment.

Even the Owls' Steel City rivals Sheffield United are implementing a data-driven recruitment model using AI under their new ownership, and with his lack of football knowledge becoming increasingly exposed, Chansiri may be keen to exit the industry.

The need for stadium and training ground renovations

It is not just on the pitch and in the boadroom that Wednesday are falling behind their Championship rivals, with both their stadium and training ground in desperate need of modernisation.

Hillsborough may be one of the most traditional stadiums in English football, but it is starting to look increasingly outdated and run-down, and speculation has been rife on social media in recent weeks about possible problems with the North Stand, and The Star confirmed last week that some work on the stand is needed ahead of the new season, although reports that it has been condemned are inaccurate.

The Owls' Middlewood Road training ground has been subject to renovation work over the summer, with the project estimated to have cost a seven-figure fee, but it was revealed on Monday that it will not be completed in time for the return of the first-team squad on Thursday.

Chansiri's financial troubles mean that it is unlikely he will be able to afford to pay for the work needed to bring Wednesday's facilities up to the required standard, and he will know that as they continue to fall into disrepair, the valuation of the club will decrease, so it could be the ideal time for him to sell in order to secure a decent price.