Exclusive: Sky pundit reacts to 'heartbreaking' Sheffield Wednesday takeover news involving John Textor | OneFootball

The Owls have been dealt another potential blow in their takeover hopes

Sky Sports pundit and EFL expert Lee Hendrie has reacted to the "heartbreaking" developments at Sheffield Wednesday amid reports that talks between John Textor and Dejphon Chansiri have stalled.

The Owls' current predicament has been well-publicised, with supporters hoping that the Thai-based businessman will see his control of the club relinquished as soon as possible amid continued worries over the immediate and long-term future of the football club.

Chansiri took over from Milan Mandaric in 2015 and has overseen an extremely tumultuous period at Hillsborough, which has culminated in the continued delay of wage payments to players and staff, multiple fan protests and boycotts across Championship and EFL Cup encounters, as well as the significant threat of a points deduction and administration which continues to hang over the club at present.

Textor, of course, hasn't been too far away from controversy himself due to incidents in the latter stages of his involvement with both Ligue 1 outfit, Lyon and FA Cup plus Community Shield holders, Crystal Palace.

However, with Wednesdayites hoping that their current ownership nightmare reaches its conclusion in the coming weeks, the latest developments involving the American, who has been heavily linked with a takeover, and the aforementioned Chansiri are far from what they want to hear.

Lee Hendrie reacts to "heartbreaking" John Textor, Dejphon Chansiri developments at Sheffield Wednesday

Chansiri's bullish stance towards the saga has remained unchanged, with the Wednesday chairman previously believed to be seeking an ambitious £100m before he departs the Steel City side, whilst others at the club are still left in the lurch.

Indeed, it was reported earlier in the week that for the fifth time in six months, senior Owls players and staff were not paid their wages for the month of September in adequate time, with some even threatening strike action ahead of Saturday's game with Coventry City.

As such, it has been reported that a points deduction, on top of pre-existing transfer and restriction embargoes, is "almost inevitable", whilst it remains to be seen if an outstanding £7.3m loan has been repaid by the club.

A report from the Daily Mail has since outlined that Chansiri could reduce his asking price to £70m. However, it is believed that Textor is unlikely to advance his talks as current discussions between the two parties hit a lull.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Hendrie - like many - hopes a resolution can be found, as unlikely as it may seem.

"I'm not sure how this is going to get resolved at Sheffield Wednesday," the pundit said. "It just feels like an ongoing saga.

"The more it continues on, I think people that are interested in buying the club, like Textor, who knows the situation the club is in, will want it as cheap as possible, won't they?," the pundit claimed.

"It's just got into an awful situation. The worrying and heartbreaking thing is it's just more bad news.

"It just seems to keep going, yet the team keep driving on, continuing to really dig deep and try and get results on the field whilst all this stuff off the field goes on.

"It's an absolute joke, to be fair. Anyone involved in the football club must be feeling as frustrated as hell," Hendrie added.

Sheffield Wednesday players deserve immense praise for on-pitch commitment as boardroom saga continues

As Hendrie alluded to, Henrik Pedersen - who has been left with a threadbare squad - and his players deserve immense credit for the way they have conducted themselves on the pitch whilst being visibly frustrated with the off-pitch saga.

Club captain Barry Bannan recently revealed that there has been no communication from the hierarchy to the players, whilst striker Jamal Lowe recently made a subtle dig at Chansiri's antics on social media following a 2-2 draw with Birmingham City at St. Andrew's.

The Dane's outfit, who endured a limited pre-season and a change of boss just nine days before the opening game of the competitive campaign with the departure of Danny Rohl, are in a solid vein of form at present, following up a first league success of the season at Portsmouth with credible draws against Queens Park Rangers and the aforementioned Blues.

However, an impending points deduction - whatever the figure - would come as the most crushing of blows to Wednesday, who are looking to preserve their second tier status for a fourth-straight season against all odds.