Sheffield United owners facing fresh backlash from Simon Jordan after development this week | OneFootball

Simon Jordan has given his reaction to reports that Sheffield United's owners made an enquiry about a potential merger with Sheffield Wednesday.

Former Crystal Palace owner and talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan has slammed Sheffield United owners COH Sports for even considering the idea of a merger with local rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

Sheffield Wednesday have been on the market now for over a month after former owner Dejphon Chansiri put the club and the company through which he owned the stadium into administration, bringing his decade-long tenure at Hillsborough to an end.

There has been no shortage of interest in the Owls, with three credible bids already on the table for the club and two further offers expected in the coming days, but former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley has failed with an initial £20 million bid, and it remains to be seen whether he will return with an improved proposal.

Much of the takeover process at Wednesday has taken place behind closed doors, but it was revealed this week that the club's administrators had received a shock enquiry from the owners of Sheffield United about a potential merger of the Steel City rivals.

The mere suggestion of a merger has been met with horror from both Owls and Blades supporters, and it is believed that it would be blocked by both the EFL and the new Independent Football Regulator, but COH Sports have not yet publicly denied that an enquiry was made.

Just hours after the speculation emerged, United owners Steve Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy released a statement reiterating that "bringing regular Premier League football to Sheffield United is why we are here", but there was no mention of the rumours about a merger with Wednesday.

Simon Jordan takes aim at Sheffield United owners after Sheffield Wednesday merger enquiry

Jordan, who revealed that he was heading a consortium that was interested in taking over Sheffield Wednesday before pulling out of the process, slammed Sheffield United's owners for even entertaining the possibility of a merger with the Owls, and he urged COH Sports to distance themselves from the reports as quickly as possible.

"Well if I'm Sheffield United's owners, I would want to make sure I squashed that one because that just shows a complete lack of awareness of the nature of the beast," Jordan said on talkSPORT.

"How could you even consider indexing your name to the idea that Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United could merge?

"That's like suggesting, on a smaller scale, why don't we merge Rangers and Celtic?

"The very value of the fabric of football is about unique identity."

Sheffield Wednesday merger talk will alarm Sheffield United fans after previous Chris Wilder mistake

It looked as though Sheffield United were entering a bright new era when COH Sports bought the club for £111 million last December, but as the first anniversary of their takeover approaches, their tenure has raised plenty of red flags.

The decision to replace popular manager Chris Wilder with Ruben Selles in the summer proved to be a disaster, and they were forced into a humiliating U-turn in September as they brought the 58-year-old back to Bramall Lane, just 89 days after parting company with him.

Wilder's exit raised question marks about Rosen and Eltoukhy's football knowledge, but their enquiry about a possible merger with Sheffield Wednesday clearly demonstrates that they do not understand the club they have taken over, or the passionate nature of the rivalry between the two sides of the Steel City.

It has been claimed that COH Sports are willing to sell up to 20% of their stake in the Blades, which suggests they may be having doubts about whether they can take the club forward, and unless they can provide a proper denial over the merger reports, the pressure on them will continue to build.