How much Mike Ashley offered to buy Sheffield Wednesday for as Derby County plan-B emerges | OneFootball

The ex-Newcastle United owner has now got his sights set on a potential takeover of the Rams

Sheffield Wednesday and Derby County are two Championship sides which are currently facing strong media attention for both matters on and off the pitch.

This can particularly be said regarding the Owls, who have been on the lookout for necessary investment in order to secure the club's very future after they were placed into administration by controversial former chairman, Dejphon Chansiri, on Friday, October 24th after fears that a £1m tax bill owed to His Majesty's Revenue and Customs would not be paid in time.

Begbies Traynor have since overseen matters at Hillsborough for an interim period, with the administrators and supporters hoping for a swift ending to a well-documented and long-standing saga that has been full of twists and turns for several months.

Indeed, the latest major twist concerning the Steel City club was that they were hit with a further six-point deduction on December 1st after several instances of delayed wage payments to players, management and general staff, as well as added non-payments.

This, on top of the automatic 12-point penalty Wednesday received for entering administration has seen them lose 18 points altogether, and they are now staring relegation to League One in the face, as has been expected since the first game of the season.

It must be noted that Wednesday's currently dire financial situation isn't, by far, the first time in which such circumstances have, unfortunately unfolded.

It is a feeling which Derby supporters don't need too much reminding of, as they were rescued from the brink of oblivion by current owner and cult hero, David Clowes, in July 2022 after entering administration and being docked 21 points in 2021/22.

However, not only are both clubs linked with a current takeover for differing reasons, such circumstances have heavily revolved around ex-Newcastle United custodian, Mike Ashley.

How much Mike Ashley offered to buy Sheffield Wednesday for amid Derby County plan-B talk

Ashley's name hasn't been far away from takeover discussions at Hillsborough for many weeks and months, stretching back into the period in which Chansiri was believed to be holding out for a £100m sum in order to relinquish his stranglehold of the South Yorkshire club.

The Frasers Group boss hasn't been directly involved in the day-to-day running of a club since handing over his control of the Magpies to the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund for £305m in October 2021, before buying Coventry City's home stadium, the CBS Arena for £17m in November 2022.

Yet, months after eventually selling the CBS to Doug King for just under £40m in August, the 61-year-old businessman has been one of the most high-profile names linked with a takeover move for the Owls alongside John McEvoy and John Textor.

Indeed, after it was claimed that Begbies Traynor demanded proof of £50m in funds ahead of a soft deadline of November 21st for initial bids, reports emerged that Ashley was preparing a cut-price deal of just £10m to become Wednesday's next chairman, largely due to a lack of fears over the sourcing of his cash after already being well known to the EFL.

Despite the fact that deadlines for granting exclusivity have been delayed after an initial timeframe of December 5th was set, Ashley still remains heavily linked with a takeover amid claims that £30m may be enough to secure control whilst there is no clear front-runner in the takeover race.

Such developments came after it was revealed on November 26th that Ashley had made an official, yet unsuccessful bid of £20m to win the race, with several other parties able to offer at least £30m.

It has now emerged that Ashley now has one eye on taking over Derby, who are valued at a reported £60m cost as the aforementioned Textor looks to prepare a bid of his own.

Of course, this isn't the first time that the Walsall native has been linked with a takeover in DE24, having hoped to have been the man to have taken them out of administration over three years ago.

His head of PR, Keith Bishop, claimed at the time that Ashley was "100 percent" interested in taking over the East Midlands side. He even prepared a £50m bid and deposited the cash in June 2022, just weeks before Clowes stepped in and saved his boyhood club.

Given his controversial past at St James' Park, it is no surprise that Ashley remains a divisive figure, and it remains to be seen if he will be involved at either club in the immediate future.