Mike Ashley and a Sheffield Wednesday takeover: What is actually going on? | OneFootball

We rounded up all the latest news on Mike Ashley's reported interest in a takeover of Sheffield Wednesday.

As their off-field crisis continues, former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has become the latest name to be linked with a takeover of Sheffield Wednesday.

Wednesday have been plunged into crisis after a nightmare few months under the ownership of Dejphon Chansiri, and it seems things could be set to get even worse for the troubled South Yorkshire outfit.

After paying the wages of players and staff late on multiple occasions in recent months, the Owls are already banned from paying transfer fees for the next three windows, and they are also currently under five separate transfer embargoes for a host of other breaches.

However, according to the Daily Mail, Wednesday are now close to being served with a winding-up petition, with the size of their unpaid tax bill owed to HMRC believed to be around £750,000, and if Chansiri cannot settle that debt, he may have no other option but to put the club into administration.

While the threat of administration is looming large for the Owls, there is still believed to be plenty of interest in the club if Chansiri can strike a deal to sell, and along with former Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor and businessman David Richards, Ashley is believed to be one of those monitoring the situation at Hillsborough.

Potential Sheffield Wednesday owner Mike Ashley has controversial Newcastle United past

Ashley is the founder of Sports Direct and the Frasers Group, and although he has now stepped down from his role as chief executive of both companies, he remains a director of the main board of the latter.

The 61-year-old, who has a net worth of $5.6 billion (£4.2 billion), has had plenty of success in the business world over the years, but he is also no stranger to the world of football having owned Newcastle United from 2007 to 2021.

During Ashley's 14 years in charge of the Magpies, they played in the Premier League for 12 of those seasons, spending the other two in the Championship and winning the title on both occasions, while they also qualified for the Europa League after a fifth-placed finish in the top flight in the 2011-12 campaign.

However, despite achieving on and off-field stability for much of his tenure, Ashley was an unpopular figure among the Newcastle fanbase, with many feeling that he lacked the required ambition to take the club forward, and he was the subject of regular protests prior to his exit in October 2021 when he sold the North East outfit to a Saudi-led consortium for a fee of £305 million.

The Magpies are not the only club Ashley has been involved with as he also held an 8.92% stake in Scottish giants Rangers between October 2014 and June 2017, while he also owned Coventry City's CBS Arena stadium between November 2022 and August 2025.

Mike Ashley monitoring Sheffield Wednesday situation as Dejphon Chansiri crisis continues

Ashley may now have been out of football for over four years, but it seems he has had ambitions of returning to club ownership for some time.

After Derby County went into administration, Ashley was one of those interested in purchasing the club before it was sold to current owner David Clowes, and it was claimed that he even deposited £50 million as he looked to save the Rams from liquidation in the summer of 2022.

Ashley was also linked with a takeover of another club in distress in the form of Reading towards the end of 2023, but he decided against pursuing a deal for the Royals, who were sold to Rob Couhig in May 2025 to end Dai Yongge's nightmare tenure.

It seems Ashley has now set his sights on Wednesday, with journalist Alan Biggs revealing earlier this month that the ex-Newcastle United owner was "monitoring" the situation at Hillsborough, and in a further post on X last week, the respected local journalist again confirmed that Ashley is keeping a close eye on developments in South Yorkshire.

With Chansiri currently believed to only be seeking fresh investment in the club rather than a full sale, it could be tough for Ashley to strike a deal as things stand, and, in any case, Chansiri's reported £100 million valuation would likely be a stumbling block to any potential takeover.