Fresh update drops on Mike Ashley's Sheffield Wednesday takeover bid - Derby County repeat could happen | OneFootball

Mike Ashley is putting his takeover of Sheffield Wednesday at risk with lowballing negotiating tactics.

Sheffield Wednesday have already had their harrowing relegation down to League One mathematically confirmed after what has been an extremely difficult, both on and off the pitch, for the Owls.

Sheffield Wednesday endured a very difficult summer in which they managed to rid themselves of owner and chairman Dejphon Chansiri, but it came at the cost of the club going into administration.

Administration is where the club remain, which is perhaps surprising, if not just a little frustrating, as we head into the spring and edge towards their mega rebuild in the summer – still without a takeover having been completed.

Under the management of Henrik Pedersen, who replaced now Rangers boss Danny Rohl, just before the campaign began, Wednesday did show some fight and resolve in the opening few weeks of theseason but times have been too tough to sustain that.

James Bord, a previous analytical consultant for arch-rivals Sheffield United and a professional poker player, has seen takeover fall through – and now another prospective buyer, Mikel Ashley, may also see his deal in jeopardy.

Mike Ashley may miss out on Sheffield Wednesday takeover

According to Alan Nixon, via his Patreon, former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is once again attempting to aggressively negotiate a cut-price to deal to buy Sheffield Wednesday.

However, with Ashley having now made an offer for the South Yorkshire giants, Nixon has reported that insiders at the club have described it as ‘very low’.

According to Nixon, Ashley was left regretting his decision to not upweight his offers for Derby County during their administration troubles, and instead his low ball offer for the Rams was also rejected.

Ashley was laughed off by the administrators at Hillsborough when Bord came in with a deal that Nixon describes as ‘stupidly high’ and, with Bord now out of the picture, Ashley will surely still believe he has an opportunity to move in at Wednesday.

However, as Nixon points out, Ashley may well be correct in his assessment of the low value of the club but the 61-year-old is once again risking an opportunity to get back involved in the sport and take charge of another so-called ‘sleeping giant’.

Sheffield Wednesday will be wary of Mike Ashley

The famous old saying that ‘beggars cannot be choosers’ is one that springs to mind in this situation, but the fact is that Wednesday should still really be careful with regards to Ashley, given his reputation within Newcastle United’s fanbase.

The founder and former chief executive of Frasers Group, formerly known as Sports Direct International, Ashley became famous in the United Kingdom for owning Newcastle between 2007 and 2021.

During his time at St James’ Park, which he renamed on a couple of occasions to the Sports Direct Arena and St James’ Park @ Sports Direct Arena, Newcastle succumbed to two relegations from the Premier League.

The club majorly stagnated and was often a bit of a laughing stock with chaotic goings on behind the scenes and some very bizarre transfer business conducted, often failing to remotely replenish an often thin squad.

Ashley eventually sold up, after numerous reported attempts, to the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund in 2021 and he has since apparently been, according to Nixon, ‘playing it cool’ with regards to his interest in back into the sport.

Sheffield Wednesday remain in a desperate situation and it could well be that Ashley does indeed become their saviour – but it is certainly a situation that Owls supporters should be wary of.