Sheffield Wednesday could soon be under new ownership, with James Bord designated the preferred bidder for the club.

Wednesday have been on the market since former owner Dejphon Chansiri placed the club and the firm through which he owns the stadium into administration in late October, thereby ending his decade-long stint at Hillsborough.

After the interested parties were narrowed down, former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and American businessman David Storch were said to be among the final candidates, but it was later revealed that Bord had been chosen as the preferred bidder by the club’s administrators on December 24.

Bord currently owns stakes in Scottish side Dunfermline Athletic, Spanish club Cordoba, and Bulgarian outfit Septemvri Sofia, so he has plenty of experience running football clubs, but it is fair to say that the decision to grant him preferred bidder status has not gone over well with some Owls fans.

This is primarily owing to Bord’s connections with Wednesday’s Steel City rivals Sheffield United, for whom he previously worked as a recruitment advisor, and recent transfer developments at Bramall Lane will only add to concerns about the former poker player.

Fresh Sheffield United transfer update will scare Sheffield Wednesday as James Bord clearout continues.

Bord was hired as a recruitment consultant by Sheffield United’s owners, COH Sports, immediately after their purchase last December, and his impact at Bramall Lane was obvious to all.

The Blades’ hierarchy was eager to use Bord’s AI model to inform their transfer activity, and disagreements over the data-driven approach are thought to have played a significant role in the departure of manager Chris Wilder in the summer, just weeks after his team lost to Sunderland in the play-off final.

Bord was not only involved in player recruitment, but he is also reported to have recommended Ruben Selles as Wilder’s replacement, which surely backfired on United, as the Spaniard was fired in September after losing all six games in charge in all competitions.

It is fair to assume that Bord’s signings fared little better, with one of his recruits, Jefferson Cacares, making a permanent move to Dunfermline in the summer after only six months at Bramall Lane, during which he made 0 appearances.

With Wilder back in charge, he has made it obvious that he wants to make changes to his team in January. According to The Star, defender Mihail Polendakov, midfielder Alex Matos, and wingers Christian Nwachukwu and Ehije Ukaki will all be permitted to leave the club this month.

While it is unclear whether Matos was a Bord signing, there is no doubt that the Blades’ former advisor pushed the deals for Polendakov, Nwachukwu, and Ukaki, and given that they have made only one appearance for the club, it is not surprising that they have been made available for transfer.

Sheffield Wednesday supporters will be quite concerned about James Bord following the Sheffield United horror.

Bord would have struggled to adequately deploy his AI model at Bramall Lane because he was merely an advisor, not the club’s formal owner.

Bord has previously worked for Tony Bloom and Matthew Benham, who have had great success with data-driven recruitment models at Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford over the years, so if he can develop a similar approach to his mentors, exciting times may be ahead for Wednesday under his ownership.

However, all of Bord’s signings for the Blades have proven to be total failures, as evidenced by Wilder’s willingness to offload them this month, and Owls fans will be concerned that he will repeat those mistakes if he takes over at Hillsborough.

When it comes to Bord, the Wednesday faithful are concerned about more than just potential transfer activity, and the fact that the EFL’s approval process is expected to be lengthy as they investigate his source of funding has done little to alleviate their fears about him being chosen as the preferred bidder.

This week, more information about Bord’s consortium was revealed, with Felix Roemer and Alsharif Faisal Bin Jamil being named as two of the other individuals involved, but there is still a lot of unknowns, and Owls fans have a lot of questions.

With no decision from the EFL expected for at least a few weeks, the wait to find out whether Bord will be Wednesday’s next owner will continue, and as their Steel City neighbours attempt to ship out the remainder of his transfer flops, some fans may be hoping that he is not given the green light.