Post: US consortium offers £48 million to acquire Xie Wednesday, planning to build a new stadium of 55,000 seats

June 18th Post reported that a group of investors interested in acquiring Sheffield Wednesday Football Club announced ambitious plans to build a new stadium with a capacity of 55,000 people and make the club larger than Wrexham.

Sheffield Wednesday is one of England's second oldest football clubs and was a member of the first eight seasons of the Premier League. However, for the past 25 years, the team has been hovering between the Championship and the League One. The club is currently in crisis, with Sheffield owned by Thai businessman Deyong Charn Siri not paying all of its wages for May on Wednesday, and the payment in April was also delayed. Chaan Siri took over the club in 2015 and invested a lot of money in the early stages to strive for an upgrade, but his financial support has long dried up. He has been seeking to sell the club since 2018, and has also encountered protests from fans during this period.

Two groups of U.S. investors are reportedly in talks with the club. One group kept a low profile while the other group publicly expressed their interests. Florida-based real estate investor John Flanagan and Sheffield-born businessman Adam Shaw lead a 16-person consortium that includes a former Premier League star, several baseball stars and a well-known figure. Chaan Siri's asking price for the club has dropped after he rejected the consortium's offer of £48 million. In an interview with TheAthletic, Xiao outlined the grand plans of the new potential owners. In addition to building a new stadium with a capacity of 55,000 people to replace the Hillsborough stadium, which currently can only accommodate 34,000 people, they also plan to establish an elite youth training academy.

Speaking of their ambition to bring Sheffield Wednesday back to the top league in England, Shaw said: "In the United States, no one knows Sheffield Wednesday. We didn't sell a jersey there, and there was no commercial presence, which has to change. The World Cup will be held in the United States next year, and with the personal resources in our consortium, we can easily be the English football team in Florida, we should and can be bigger than Wrexham. Ryan Reynolds will be willing to trade his left leg for the history and fan base we already have. Let's take advantage of those advantages."

The consortium is very eager to bring the club back to the top league, and if successful, Sheffield will be one of many Championship teams owned by Americans. The new stadium will accommodate 55,000 spectators, and Shaw also said he hopes to lower the fare and provide 5,000 seats to ambulance staff, firefighters, NHS staff, police, as well as active and veterans per game. Xiao stressed that during their ownership period, fans' opinions will be fully considered, although he believes that the construction of the new stadium is crucial.

Xiao: "We won't make any decisions without consulting fans, but we think the club should have a new home court that allows people to park more easily and have modern facilities. If we want to create a culture that ensures that we are a sustainable, competitive and successful Premier League team, we have to be proactive. All Premier League clubs are upgrading their stadiums."