Textor and Harris seek funding for Sheffield Wednesday bid after failed Everton takeovers
Sheffield Wednesday have potential buyers looking to takeover the club but though the pair have yet to source the needed funds.
The club are in financial turmoil under current owner Dejphon Chansiri and the Thai businessman has placed an £100million asking price on Sheffield Wednesday.
Despite many players leaving the club on free transfer’s and manager Danny Rohl departing, Wednesday competed in their first Championship match of the season against Leicester City, where they lost 2-1.
There are fears though that unless a takeover is completed soon, that Wednesday will not be able to fulfill their matches.
John Textor lines up Sheffield Wednesday bid
As reported by The Guardian [11 August] John Textor is teaming up with Keith Harris, a football financer, to try and buy Sheffield Wednesday.
Both Textor and Harris have been part of separate failed bids in the past to takeover Everton, and later the pair got to know each other while Harris working for Sportsbank, which also attempted to buy 45% of Textor’s Eagle Football this year.
Textor used the investment vehicle to try and buy Everton and the organisation owns multiple football clubs.
However, multi-club ownership ran into problems this summer for Textor when both Lyon and Crystal Palace qualified for the Europa League.
Palace have since been demoted to the Europa Conference League and Textor has sold his shares in the South London club.
Meanwhile, Sportsbank will not be used to fund Sheffield Wednesday, with Harris working with Textor to find money from elsewhere.
Wednesday fighting on despite Chansiri chaos
Football Insider Verdict
Sheffield Wednesday supporters peacefully protested at Leicester around wanting Chansiri to sell the club, and the urgent need for fresh investment.
The players and fans showed spirit and unity at the King Power and nearly pulled off a shock opening day result when they took the lead in the first half through a Nathaniel Chalobah strike.
| Possession | 25% |
| Goals | 1 |
| Total Shots | 7 |
| Shots on target | 3 |
The Yorkshire club have potential, with a passionate fan base and a stadium boasting more than 30,000 seats in the second tier.
Textor and Harris’ plans to takeover the club currently seem a non-starter amid the latter’s need for investment from outside Sportsbank.
Supporters have already seen potential takeovers fall through with buyers not wanting to meet Chansiri’s high asking price for the club.
Chansiri must lower that price if he wants to sell, otherwise a difficult situation for Wednesday will drag on.
On the pitch there fate already looks sealed as things stand though the club’s transfer embargo has been lifted, allowing new manager Henrik Pedersen to sign free agents.