John Textor ‘definitely interested’ in buying Sheffield Wednesday

Former Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor said he was “definitely interested” in buying Sheffield Wednesday, it has been reported.

American businessman Textor sold his 43 per cent stake in Crystal Palace in July and is a majority shareholder at Lyon, Belgium club RWDM Brussels and Brazilian side Botafogo.

The Sheffield Star has reported that Textor told journalist Alan Myers he wanted to buy “a traditional English club” but has not yet made any approach to embattled Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri.

Former Crystal Palace co-owner John Textor said he was “definitely interested” in buying Sheffield Wednesday, it has been reported.

Monitoring the situation

Textor said: “It’s true that I am looking for a traditional English club to buy, or with which I can partner… I just have not spoken with anybody at Sheffield Wednesday yet and I am monitoring the situation, hoping to better understand it.

“I’m definitely interested, It’s a lot to solve in a short amount of time with regards to taking advantage of the transfer window but it’s definitely a club and community I would like to help.”

Thai businessman Chansiri has come under increasing pressure to sell the club, which he bought for a reported £37.5million from Milan Mandaric in 2015.

He recently confirmed he had rejected one consortium’s £40m bid, while talks with various other interested parties have stalled.

Wednesday have lurched from one crisis to another in recent seasons and are currently under three English Football League embargoes for various financial breaches.

Chaos

Wages were not paid on time for the third-successive month in July and players refused to play in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Burnley last Saturday.

That heightened concern within the EFL that the club would not be able to fulfil Sunday’s opening Sky Bet Championship fixture at Leicester.

Under EFL rules, the delayed payments allowed key players Josh Windass and Michael Smith to walk away from their contracts for free to join Wrexham and Preston respectively.

Amid the summer chaos, former manager Danny Rohl initially failed to return for pre-season training before eventually departing by mutual agreement and being replaced by his assistant Henrik Pedersen.

Captain Barry Bannan, who signed a new deal with the Owls at the weekend, has since said he did not think the players would boycott Sunday’s game, but it has been reported the players had considered it.

Protest

The Owls have sold out their allocation for the trip to the King Power Stadium, where Sheffield Wednesday Supporters’ Trust have planned a large-scale protest.

The Trust has called on fans to delay entry to their seats until five minutes after kick-off, while a large banner will be displayed in “a visibly empty away end”.

Textor sold his stake in Palace as they bid to overturn UEFA’s decision to demote them from the Europa League to the Conference League under its multi-club ownership rules.

He added: “I often cite (Wednesday) as an example of what’s wrong with football today, the lack of parity, because of the influence of money and I wish there was a system where the Sheffield Wednesdays of the world could be champions again.”

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