Former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is set to make a revised bid to buy crisis club Sheffield Wednesday in the next 24 hours, according to Telegraph journalist John Percy.
The 61-year-old originally made an offer worth £20m to administrators back in November, and has maintained his interest in acquiring the League One-bound side.
Wednesday’s administrators are expecting final offers ahead of the weekend, with Ashley and American businessman David Storch the two strong favourites to replace Dejphon Chansiri as owner.
The Owls’ proposed takeover by James Bord collapsed last month after he had been chosen as the preferred bidder at the end of 2025.
Ashley Likely to Table Bid on Friday
According to the Telegraph, the Sports Direct owner is considering his next move, but he is likely to make a new bid for Wednesday given his interest has never wilted.
Ashley had submitted an offer worth around £20m to administrators Begbies Traynor on November 25, before Bord’s offer was chosen as the one they wanted to take forward.
Any interested parties must meet the criteria of 25p in the pound to creditors, otherwise the club will be given another 15-point deduction in League One at the start of next season, to add to the 18 points taken from them this term.
After 14 years in charge of Newcastle, Ashley sold the club to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund for £300m in 2021, but is now looking to get back into football at Hillsborough.
While he wasn’t the most popular figure during his reign at St James’ Park, he knows how to run a football club and be a successful businessman at the same time. That experience could be vital for Wednesday.
Bord Collapse Hit Wednesday Hard
After leading the race to take over at Sheffield Wednesday having been granted exclusivity in December, Bord and his consortium pulled out as they considered the valuation of the club to be considerably lower than the £47.8m they had initially offered.
Bord had invested more than £4m to help run the club since being granted exclusivity, before pulling out in a blow to the club and its supporters.
Prospective buyers already know that Sheffield Wednesday will be a League One club next season after their relegation from the Championship was confirmed against arch-rivals Sheffield United at Bramall Lane last month.
Saturday’s defeat to Southampton made it 12 league defeats in a row for the Owls and Henrik Pedersen, with the club also having to cash in on key players such as Barry Bannan and Yan Valery in the January transfer window.
Their squad is threadbare in terms of experienced players, and the club will want the situation sorted as soon as possible so they can start to build for what could be another tough campaign in 2026-27.