Big Sheffield Wednesday financial update given as League One looms | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday are planning for life in League One for next season

Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping to start properly planning for life in League One as quickly as possible.

The Owls have been in administration since October, and the team officially suffered the drop from the Championship in February with a 2-1 loss to bitter rivals Sheffield United.

But there is now some light at the end of the tunnel, with David Storch’s group, Arise Capital, agreeing to buy the club in March.

The Yorkshire outfit are still awaiting ratification from the EFL before finalising the takeover, but a new era is on the horizon at Hillsborough.

Henrik Pedersen’s side have endured a difficult campaign, winning just one of their 39 games so far, with the club on minus six points due to receiving a total 18 points worth of deduction penalties from the EFL.

It is feared that Sheffield Wednesday face further sanctions when the takeover is closed, including another 15 point deduction and potential spending caps on wages.

Sheffield Wednesday contract protections

It was previously reported that the EFL had proposed a wage limit of £7 million on Sheffield Wednesday for next season due to Storch’s bid being below the threshold needed to pay the club’s creditors at a rate of 25p on the pound.

As part of the proposal, the Owls could also have been restricted to a maximum wage of £7,000 per week for players.

However, it has now been reported by The Star that these sanctions are set to be eased and that they were never feasible in the first place due to players already earning well above that.

And despite concerns about the size of the wages of some players, it is believed that Sheffield Wednesday have some protection going into League One next season.

It’s understood that some players have automatic wage reductions worth between 40 and 50 percent due to suffering relegation.

This will help Sheffield Wednesday comply with any financial restrictions placed on them by the EFL, while potentially leaving some room for spending in the transfer window.

It remains to be seen whether the restrictions on paying fees for new players will be lifted for this summer, but free agents and loan signings should still be permitted with EFL approval.

Arise Capital are reportedly still in talks with the EFL in order to iron out the details of any sporting sanctions the club will face once the takeover is completed.

Wage reduction clauses could be very important for Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday’s overall wage bill is quite low, but there are still senior players that have earned Championship-level contracts at the club, which could be quite expensive to maintain in the third tier.

So the existence of wage reduction clauses as a consequence for relegation, while typical for clubs, will still be very important for the Owls.

Estimated figures from Capology claim that the likes of Ike Ugbo, Dominic Iorfa and Nathaniel Chalobah all earn £20,000 per week.

Being able to shed some of their spending for life in the third tier will help the new owners in their bid to build a competitive squad straight away.