Why Sheffield Wednesday are stuck in takeover limbo

A penalty shootout win over a regional rival, young players making names for themselves, a deadline day signing, and staff paid on time for the first time in months.

On the face of it, the past ten days or so haven't gone too badly for Sheffield Wednesday.

But in the background, the club's financial crisis and takeover turmoil are continuing, with fans conducting protests and boycotts as they try to put a dent in owner Dejphon Chansiri's income.

BBC Sport analyses where Wednesday currently stand, and what is preventing a takeover from being finalised.

Chansiri has admitted he turned down two offers for the club earlier this summer, claiming one was worth £40m, with another £30m from a US-based group.

At the time, the 57-year-old said in a statement: "I repeat that I am willing to sell but the deal must be correct on all fronts."

The valuation Chansiri has put on the Owls is understood to be about £100m, more than two-and-a-half times what he paid when he bought the club from previous owner Milan Mandaric in 2015. Is that figure fair?

With inflation, the £37.5m Chansiri parted with a decade ago would now be worth about £52m, still only around half of what he seems to be demanding to relinquish control now.

"Most EFL clubs are being sold for roughly two or two-and-a-half times their revenue," says football finance expert Kieran Maguire. "In Sheffield Wednesday's case, that puts them in the region of about £40m to £50m.

"When you take into consideration the state of the stadium, and the fact the club doesn't own it, they should be towards the bottom of that scale. The £100m valuation appears to be without merit and has no logical backing."

During Chansiri's time in charge of the club, Wednesday have lost almost £200m. He originally spent heavily as he targeted a return to the Premier League for the first time since 2000, and has regularly turned down significant bids from rival clubs for sought-after players.

But in recent years his spending has receded significantly, and the Owls are far more likely to be playing in League One than the Premier League in the next few years.

The club's financial issues - including late payments to HM Revenue & Customs, a failure to pay transfer fees to other clubs, and delayed salary payments to staff and players - are currently subject to an English Football League (EFL) investigation.

That could lead to a heavy points deduction and contribute to a relegation from the Championship that already seems inevitable, given Wednesday have a much smaller senior squad than other sides in the division and have unable to sign players on permanent contracts because of an EFL embargo.

The fact Chansiri is turning down bids and holding out for a value which appears unrealistic has led some to believe he doesn't really want to sell the club at all.

"I think Chansiri is perhaps being a little naive," Maguire says. "Trying to work out his motives, other than trying to get back as much of his losses as he can, is a bit confusing."

The BBC has made multiple unsuccessful attempts to contact Chansiri and requested an interview with him, which was turned down.

Chansiri is part of one of Thailand's richest families - his father Kraisorn founded the Thai Union Group, a seller of seafood which makes billions of pounds per year shipping products around the world. The business is now managed by Dejphon's older brother Thiraphong.

The Owls owner, therefore, has little true business pedigree as an individual, and vast familial financial resources behind him.

"While Chansiri has a significant number of shares in the family business, the value of those shares have fallen in the past few years, and so has his personal wealth," says Maguire.

"You can sometimes be asset rich and cash poor. He is certainly not poor by normal standards, but his Sheffield Wednesday losses and the decrease in the value of the family business has hit him."

Wednesday supporters are attempting to force Chansiri to sell by restricting the club's income.

Earlier this week, only 7,801 fans attended their penalty shootout victory over Leeds at Hillsborough. That is 20,099 fewer supporters than watched their most recent home fixture against the same opponents in the Championship last season.

With fans calling for a boycott of the match, the club dropped ticket prices to £15.

Even at that price, had the same number of fans attended this time, the club would have made about £300,000 more in gate receipts than the roughly £120,000 they will have taken with a heavily reduced attendance.

"The commitment from the Wednesday fans to get behind the team, not the regime, is designed to put further pressure on Chansiri," says Maguire.

Even if fans' attempts to damage the club's income do increase the pressure on Chansiri, there still needs to be a buyer who can offer an amount that convinces him to finally cut ties.

Earlier this summer, former Crystal Palace owner John Textor - who remains in control of both Lyon in Ligue 1 and Brazilian club Botafogo - confirmed his interest in taking over Wednesday, saying: "It's true that I am looking for a traditional English club to buy, or with which I can partner. I am monitoring the situation."

Whether Textor would, or should, now pass the EFL's Owners and Directors' Test is not necessarily certain.

His ownership of Palace ended in acrimony and widespread derision from fans earlier this year after errors over Uefa multi-club ownership rules led to the Eagles being demoted to the Conference League from the Europa League.

"Textor does have £180m burning a hole in his pocket following the sale of his shares in Crystal Palace," says Maguire.

"He is a colourful character who certainly likes the limelight. I guess some Wednesday fans would probably welcome anybody given the current circumstances."

In July, the EFL called on Chansiri to resolve the situation one way or another, saying: "We are clear that the current owner needs to either fund the club to meet its obligations or make good on his commitment to sell to a well-funded party, for fair market value - ending the current uncertainty and impasse."

The EFL is able to charge clubs and owners over matters such as unpaid wages or failing to meet other financial obligations, which if proven typically lead to fines and/or points deductions, and can force owners to divest their shares in some extreme cases.

But Chansiri's ownership has not met the criteria for forced divesture, and the charges the EFL has brought against both the club and Chansiri are still at the written submissions stage, meaning final outcomes remain a while off.

Also in July, the government's Football Governance Bill was signed into law, meaning the new independent football regulator is in the process of being set up.

The regulator will eventually have the power to revoke licenses for football club owners, effectively forcing them out.

But before that system is in place, regulator chairman David Kogan's appointment must be approved, a board must be installed, and secondary legislation must be passed, meaning the idea of the regulator forcing a resolution at Wednesday in the near future is unrealistic.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport told the BBC: "We recognise the need to set the regulator set up without delay."

Fan boycotts and protests may continue to apply personal and financial pressure, but with the EFL and regulator unable to act as things stand, the power to determine the club's future remains firmly with Chansiri.

For a sale to be completed, it seems one of three things needs to happen:

Until one of those happens, Sheffield Wednesday are stuck in takeover limbo, drifting towards a points deduction and likely relegation which will only increase the stress on players, staff, and fans.