Sheffield Wednesday takeover: Charlie Methven sighting, EFL request, Kris Wigfield update | OneFootball

FLW rounds up the latest news surrounding the Owls' potential takeover

Sheffield Wednesday's off-pitch developments continue to make headlines at present, with the South Yorkshire side hoping to be taken over as soon as possible.

The Owls were placed into administration on Friday, October 24th, by controversial former owner, Dejphon Chansiri, due to fears over his inability to pay a £1m tax bill to His Majesty's Revenue and Customs.

At present, Wednesday are now under the temporary stewardship of administrators, Begbies Traynor, who are fronted by Kris Wigfield, Paul Stanley and Julian Pitts, with the firm having previous experience of steadying Wigan Athletic and Blackpool prior to takeovers in the North West.

There are several high-profile bidders who have been linked with a takeover at Hillsborough pre-and-post-administration, such as John Textor, Mike Ashley and John McEvoy.

As such, Football League World rounds up the latest developments concerning a potential takeover as Henrik Pedersen prepares his side for a trip to Southampton on Saturday afternoon.

Ex-Sunderland and Charlton Athletic figure spotted at Hillsborough for Norwich City clash

It emerged on Wednesday night, during the course of the Owls' 1-1 draw with lowly Norwich City in S6, that former Sunderland and Charlton Athletic board member, Charlie Methven, was in the stands.

The 49-year-old was sighted alongside Symon Quick - a supporter and businessman extremely vocal during the tumultuous recent period - which certainly divided opinion amongst Wednesdayites and those who follow the Addicks and Black Cats.

Methven gained plenty of attention for developments at the Stadium of Light which were subsequently broadcast on the Netflix docuseries 'Sunderland 'Til I Die' throughout the 2018/19 season, and most recently stepped down from his position as Charlton CEO in March after previously helping SE7 Partners complete a takeover back in July 2023.

Sheffield Wednesday hope to add free agents to Henrik Pedersen's threadbare squad

A well-documented aspect of Chansiri's dire end at Hillsborough was Wednesday's inability to add to their threadbare squad following a mass summer exodus.

As such, only Ethan Horvath and Harry Amass were acquired on loan from Cardiff City and Manchester United respectively, with several transfer and registration embargoes denying the club to even sign free agents.

It has been reported that the administrators remain in dialogue with the EFL in an attempt to revert such a decision, which previously denied Liam Cooper the chance of a return to Yorkshire following his departure from Levski Sofia.

However, the former Leeds United and Championship-winning captain is said to have remained at the top of the club's transfer list should they be allowed to add some much-needed depth, quality and experience.

The aforementioned Wigfield - a lifelong Wednesday supporter and season-ticket holder - has been extremely vocal with supporters since being responsible for ensuring short-term stability is instilled within the club.

He, Stanley and Pitts previously outlined that at least £50m in proof of funds must be demonstrated if a bidder is to join the reported 'double-figure' queue, whilst a takeover cannot be officially confirmed until at least Friday, November 21st due to regulations which mean the club must remain on the market for a 28-day period.

And, whilst their name cannot be made official during negotiations, Wigfield confirmed at an event with the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters Trust, that a prospective bidder had been given a tour of Hillsborough and the club's Middlewood Road training facility, with others expected to be given similar access next week.

"The ones that have given proof of funding, we have told them we are setting a soft deadline of November 21 for their indicative offers," Wigfield outlined.

"What that should enable us to do is see which of them are seriously interested and what type of offers we’re looking at, then we can get it down to a shortlist that’s smaller than that.

"Today (Thursday) we showed one of the seven around the training ground and around Hillsborough, there’ll be another two or three that we show around next week. So it is getting to the stage now that we’re beginning to really dig into the detail and start asking the sort of questions that determine whether they want to buy the club or not," he added.

"I obviously can’t say who they are, but what I can say is that all of them know how to run a business.

"They’ve all made money running businesses, they’ve all got cash, so whoever it ends up being, we’ll definitely be in a much better position than we have been in the last few years," the administrator stated.