FORMER Sheffield Wednesday owner Milan Mandaric has jetted to England for talks to help save his old club.
The Serbian chief was in charge of the Owls between 2010 and 2015 before selling them to current owner Dejphon Chansiri for £37.5million.
Mandaric, who also previously owned Portsmouth and Leicester, has since been watching things unfurl at Hillsborough, with Chansiri no longer investing his own money amid talks of a new sale.
An American consortium boasting an ex-Premier League star, a major celebrity and several Major Baseball League stars are leading the takeover race after already having a £48m offer rejected.
They have even promised to build a new 55,000-seater stadium in a bid to become more popular in the States than Ryan Reynolds’ Wrexham.
But Mandaric claims he wants to be the one to “help” Wednesday get out of their current sticky situation.
Admitting he was “not very happy” to leave in 2015, Mandaric slammed Chansiri for making false promises when taking over the club.
The veteran football guru insists he is now ready to return to Sheffield with a bold plan to get things back on track.
But he feels Chansiri is asking for way too much money to sell stricken Wednesday.
Mandaric told Radio Sheffield: “He (Chansiri) gave me all the commitments in the world, that he’s got the money, the desire. That he’s got family there, and they all talked the same way.
“I was not very happy to leave the club, but there were circumstances – it was my time to leave. But I was kind of relaxed and relieved that he would continue to do a good job.
“He took the wrong direction, and advice, and now the club is where it is today. And who is suffering the most are those loyal supporters.
“It definitely needs a big rescue now, we all know that, all of us who love Sheffield Wednesday.
“I’m going to meet in London, I’m arriving there next week and I’m going to talk to some people about that, I have a plan to do so.
“I have my ex-manager who was there, Paul Aldridge, and John Redgate, who all worked for me – they know what’s going on. And I want to see what could be a possibility to takeover that club.
“I would have to get involved if I’m going to bring somebody, I’d have to get involved myself – I have no problem with that.
“There are two things, you have to find the right person, but more importantly you have to have Mr. Chansiri to agree on that – and that’s the difficult part.
“He doesn’t want to sell it, he’s asking a crazy price – he will never get over £100m as I understands… He’ll be an obstacle no matter what we try to do.”
Read the full article here
