Mike Ashley twist emerges in Sheffield Wednesday takeover chase | OneFootball

Multiple bids have been lodged to become Sheffield Wednesday owner

Sheffield Wednesday have received further bids from potential new owners amid news that Mike Ashley had made an initial £20m offer.

The Owls were placed into administration in late October, after former owner Dejphon Chansiri was unable to satisfy a £1m HMRC bill.

Despite being hit with an automatic 12-point penalty which all but confirmed their relegation to League One, there was a mass amount of interest shown in potentially buying Wednesday.

Administrator Kris Wigfield recently revealed that 80 parties had shown a desire to become the Steel City side’s next owners during the early stages of the process, with that list since whittled down to only the most serious candidates.

US billionaire John McEvoy has been reported to be one of the final names still in the mix, whilst Sheffield-born insurance tycoon is also rumoured to make up another interested party.

Sheffield Wednesday reveal multiple bids from potential owners

It was revealed on Wednesday by journalist John Percy that former Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley, had made a £20m bid for the Hillsborough outfit.

He also stated that two American consortiums are both also showing serious interest in a takeover, with the process far from complete at this moment in time.

Sky Sports’ Rob Dorsett has now followed that up, announcing via X that Ashley’s initial bid has failed, due to the fact that three offers in the region of £30m are already on the table.

Dorsett does state that Ashley could come back with a bigger bid, with exclusivity for one single party expected by the end of next week.

A deadline of December 5 has been widely reported as when Wednesday’s next owner could be announced, which coincides with this report.

Mike Ashley’s next moves will be interesting

As reported by Dorsett, it already appears that Ashley’s initial offer has been blown out of the water, with three other offers all £10m higher than his.

However, the 61-year-old is a self-made billionaire and one doesn’t reach that stage without a sharp level of business acumen.

Perhaps the former Newcastle United owner was simply testing the waters, seeing how much other parties had bid before coming in with a more serious offer, which could see him become the Owls’ next chief.

He won’t have long to make a decision on the matter though, if the deadline of December 5 is kept to.

This means that the next few days could see the race to become Wednesday’s new owner hot up immensely, which will provide a great source of excitement for the Hillsborough faithful.